TEMPE, AZ — Parents in the Kyrene Elementary School District are coming together after a committee recommended the possible closure and/or repurposing of up to nine school campuses.
In late August, a committee created by the district’s governing board voted on final recommendations to look at closing some schools. The district currently has 25 schools in total, which include six middle schools, two K-8 schools, and 17 elementary schools.
In the committee’s recommendation, the district would have four middle schools and 13 elementary schools, deciding to go away from the K-8 model.
Here are the nine schools that could potentially close:
The committee spent months trying to find solutions to a budget shortfall as the district continues to lose students in enrollment, therefore, a loss in funding. The district says the decline in enrollment is due to the declining birth rate and the lack of affordable housing in the area.
Since the announcement in late August, parents have come together, trying to figure out ways to prevent their schools from closing.
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.
“Our main messaging is we want the process to be examined, we want all the data to be out. We want an equitable solution,” Lindsay said.
Parents ABC15 spoke with say they want a more personal decision made by people close to the district, as opposed to someone from the outside.
In August, committee member and former board member Michelle Fahy told ABC15 that a demographer helped make the proposals for the committee.
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“He had to really look at all of that and say 'How many kids can each school take? What would be the capacity?' Then he selected schools based on trying to level capacity across all the campuses,” Fahy said in August.
Krista Jolkovski has two students in separate schools that are on the potential closure list. She said parents are planning a peaceful protest before the board meeting Tuesday, the date the board is supposed to get the official recommendation from the committee.
"I don't know what the solution might be. I think that’s the problem with the lack of transparency, this feels. That we all feel in this process,” Jolkovski continued. “Are there alternative solutions? Can we look at more criteria?"
As for what’s next, the board meeting will take place on Tuesday night. After that, the district will have multiple community meetings over the next few months where parents can give comments. A vote from the board will not happen until December, at the earliest, and if closures are decided by board members, the district said it’ll be done in a three-year phase.
For more detailed information, including where students would go if their schools closed, meeting dates and times, and more, click here.
