PHOENIX — The Roosevelt School District Governing Board voted late last year to close five schools as the district tries to get a handle on a $5 million budget deficit. Following the end of the school year, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, C.J. Jorgensen Academy, John R. Davis Elementary, V.H. Lassen Academy, and Maxine O. Bush Elementary will all close.
The district has been around for over a century, and is celebrating their histories with each school having a send off events. On Saturday, both Bush and Jorgenson held their goodbye parties.
“It means a lot to all of us," Bush Elementary school Principal Heather Dunkley said.
At Bush Elementary, current and former students, as well as teachers, placed a handprint on the sidewalk at the school that made a mark on them.
“Today is to remind everyone we are educators, and that change is hard, but it’s a necessary step," Dunkley said.
Principal Dunkley will move to Campbell Elementary as an assistant principal, where most of the students will transfer at the beginning of next school year.
“This school will be repurposed, and in about a year it will re open as a magnet school," Dunkley said.
When the district voted to close the five schools late last year, they cited declining student enrollment in addition to funding issues, most saying it will be more cost effective to combine schools.
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At C.J. Jorgensen Elementary, they turned their cafeteria in to a museum. Class photos from through the years sit on poster boards, and old projectors sit on display.
Going back to school for the first time in years is Bob Rimer, who is now 93. He was a teacher here when the school first opened 68 years ago, and even ran into some of his old students at the party.
“It brings back a lot of memories," Rimer said. "When you age, that’s what you have left, and these are all great memories, and great people.”
It’s also the memories that will stick with Principal Dunkley, who despite the closures, believes there’s still many more memories to be made in the Roosevelt District.
“Still being with the students, and working with the amazing staff, and amazing families," Dunkley said.
No teachers will be losing their jobs as a result of the closures, they also will be moving to other schools within the district.
Events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary and John R. Davis Elementary are scheduled for May 14.
