TEMPE, AZ — Parents, students, and staff filled a Kyrene School District board meeting Tuesday night, where district leaders presented recommendations to close or repurpose nine schools in response to declining enrollment and a looming budget shortfall during a meeting that lasted more than four hours.
The proposal comes from the district’s Long-Range Planning Committee, which has been meeting for months to study the issue.
Kyrene currently serves about 12,000 students, but its schools were built for 20,000. The last time the district had 12,000 students, it operated just 14 schools, according to the district superintendent.
Today, it maintains 25 campuses, which, if left unchanged, will create what officials say could be a $7 million funding loss over the next five years.
While administrators emphasized the financial and emotional realities of these closures, it was the students who stole the initial spotlight.
Children as young as first graders addressed the board, pleading for their schools to stay open.
“For my siblings and me, Mariposa is an extension of our home,” one student said. “A place where we feel welcome, safe, and dearly loved.”
Another student asked the board directly to, “tell me why this plan makes Kyrene stronger. Families deserve to know why this is the best plan.”
Even committee members who recommended closures said the decision was difficult.
“I’m not blind to the cost of our decision,” one member told the board. “Two of the campuses proposed are my children’s school and my work. This is really overwhelming and sad.”
Superintendent Dr. Laura Toenjes also released a statement online, stressing that the recommendation “is in no way a reflection of any school’s offerings or achievements.”
No final decisions were made Tuesday night. The district will host community meetings throughout October and November to gather more feedback. The governing board is not expected to make a decision until December at the earliest.
Parents who oppose the plan say they understand the enrollment challenges but feel the board focused too heavily on maps and demographics instead of the unique value each school provides. For now, they’re urging officials to “pump the brakes” and reconsider which schools should be on the closure list.
Greg Lindsay, a parent at Kyrene de la Mirada, said he and other parents in the school created a website and petition to raise awareness for the school.
For more detailed information, including where students would go if their schools closed, meeting dates and times, and more, click here.
