SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Across Arizona, schools are shutting their doors as enrollments drop and budgets tighten.
But what happens to the buildings in the middle of neighborhoods when schools close?
In Scottsdale, what comes next may give one neighborhood something new.
Three outside groups have their eyes on the campus of Echo Canyon School, a K-8 school with a sweeping view of Camelback Mountain that will close at the end of this school year. “We’ve been looking for a new campus for five and a half years,” said Dana Herzberg, founder of the Jones-Gordon School in Paradise Valley. The private school serves students with dyslexia, and Herzberg said the school has outgrown its space near Tatum Boulevard and Doubletree Ranch Road.
Herzberg said she is open to multiple options.
“We want to work with you,” she told members of the Scottsdale School Board as the board recently conducted a preliminary review of the three proposals.
“We’ll do a short-term lease,” she said. “We can do a long-term lease. We can buy it outright.”
The second contender comes from Mesa. Nathan Palmer co-rounded the Polaris Academy, schools that serve students with autism.
“We’re not competing (with the district)” Palmer told board members. “We’re bringing something new that families and districts need.”
For Palmer, the mission is personal
“Polaris is my dream as a parent of what i always wanted for my son,” he said.
The third group wants to keep the property in community hands. The Arcadia Sports and Learning Foundation, a newly formed non-profit, would turn the campus into a neighborhood rec center funded through membership fees.
“It’s not a money-making pit here. It’s to try to keep it a community asset,” said Eric O’Connor, a parent who helped form the non-profit.
He said one positive that has emerged is there’s excitement about Echo Canyon’s future, “as opposed to people upset about the school closing.”
Before the school board picks a direction, the Scottsdale Unified School District needs to finish a market appraisal to determine the site’s worth. That analysis is expected soon. Preliminary estimates by the district show the property could potentially be leased for up to $1.5 million a year.
Echo Canyon was once known as the Arcadia Neighborhood Learning Center. The current building has about 66,800 square feet of space.
District officials are looking to lease out the space for at least five years. District staff told the board all three of the groups that are being considered to potentially lease Echo Canyon approached the district. Staff said charter schools have also expressed interest in the space but that’s not an option staff is recommending to the board because they would be competing against the district for students.
Facing a budget deficit estimated between $7.9 million and $9 million, the school board voted 3-2 last December to close and repurpose Echo Canyon and Pima Elementary — two schools that had each fallen below 300 students.
The board recently voted to convert Pima Elementary into a special education school for students with significant medical, behavioral and structured teaching needs. District officials said they now spend more than $2.5 million on private placements for those students because of limited program capacity.
Email ABC15 Investigative Reporter Anne Ryman at: anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X and Facebook.
