"It was the best of
times, it was the worst of times." Dickens' words could apply to
the Tucson Unified School District in this era. On the one hand, awards
and honors flowed into the district. On the other, parents sued claiming
inferior education. The state legislature passed special funding for
certain programs, yet failed to meet inflationary costs or even the
statutory funding formula which affected all regular schooling. The
largest bond in history received voter approval, but override extensions
repeatedly failed and massive budget cuts were necessary.
The Merrill Grant years were
tumultuous. Dr. Grant stepped into a district recovering from a strike,
in the midst of desegregation, and in the seventh year of declining
enrollment. There was a plan for reorganization of administration and
curriculum which had not yet been implemented. Budgetary constraints
and miscalculations dogged his superintendency. Grant began directing
action in many areas.
Fiscal and physical plant
woes increase
Sagging ceilings at Mission View and Borton caused Dr. Grant to close
both schools a few weeks before school was out in 1980. Board members
were irritated that Grant made the decision without informing them.
Minority community criticism was sharp, blaming the board and administration
for not caring about south and westside schools.
Ceilings and roofs continued
to be an expensive problem in a number of eastside schools built in
the 1960s. Just before school started in the fall of 1987, the ceiling
literally fell in on Roskruge as it was about to open as Roskruge Bilingual
Middle Magnet School. After the incident, the students were bused to
temporary locations and the school was closed for repairs. More than
$2 million was needed for the repairs to the 80-year old building.
Over the next thirteen years
arsonists created havoc with fires at Tully, Menlo Park, Ford, Erickson,
Duffy, and Steele Elementary Schools, Utterback Middle School, and Rincon
and Sabino High Schools. Liability and casualty insurance premiums for
the district in the early 1980s went from $620,000 to $1.45 million
in one year, and then increased another $200,000 before the first premium
was paid on the new policy.
In December, 1980, the school
district faced a potential $910,000 deficit in the operating budget.
Cuts were ordered in many areas, including freezing vacant non-certified
positions and using resource teachers to fill teaching vacancies. Administrators
and other certified non-classroom people were asked to be temporary
substitute teachers. At the same time, the district was reorganized
into 4 regions, each under the direction of an assistant superintendent,
as recommended in the Peat, Marwick, Mitchell study of several years
before. Throughout the decade forced cuts in resource and curriculum
areas were made, cutting the classroom support systems that had been
built during the growth years of Morrow and Lee. Increased class sizes
were ordered for adaptive education and resource teachers.
Discipline problems increase
Most high schools experienced occasional short-term student walkouts
over campus incidents or administrative actions related to budgetary
problems. Sporadic acts of violence at district high schools continued
throughout the next decade. The school district spent nearly $300,000
for security personnel, mostly campus monitors, adding to the funds
spent previously for fire and burglar alarms, metal screens and non-shatter
windows in an attempt to cut vandalism costs.
The Star detailed
the changes in student behavior in a May, 1980, article: "...This
school year, as of April 30, 207 high school students had been suspended
from one to 45 days for possession or use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs.
No one had been expelled. The leading reason for student suspensions,
is defiance of authority. Disruptive behavior or interference with school
policies is the second leading reason. Since the district began keeping
statistics in 1975-76, suspensions have risen from 344 to 1, 780 in
1978-79. Of the total 1,325 were high school students.... "
In a surprise action without
public input, the school board decided in May, 1981, to eliminate corporal
punishment as a form of disciplinary action. Board member Grijalva worried
that corporal punishment was used more often on minority students than
others, while member Eva Bacal felt that corporal punishment was a form
of brutality.
Student "high jinks"
at high school graduations concerned administration at the start of
the 1980s. Graduates were increasingly rowdy during formerly solemn
graduation ceremonies. At the end of the '70s, central administrators
were speaking somberly of canceling ceremonies because of student use
of beach balls, firecrackers, and, less acceptable, liquor and marijuana,
during the ceremonies, as well as noisy cheers by family members.
New goals identifed
In 1981 Merrill Grant called for attention to critical district needs:
raising test scores, support for the new magnet schools, bilingual education,
the middle school program, a better budget process, energy conservation,
standardizing across the district a K-12 curriculum that set standards
and student responsibilities. Dr. Grant promised cuts in administration,
some of which would be accomplished through retirements and attrition.
Others would be made through reorganization which would eliminate positions.
However, as time passed, budgetary problems became the overriding issue
facing the district.
The annual RIF of teachers
grew to larger and larger numbers. In April, 1981, 454 teachers received
RIF notices. The number equaled all of the non-tenured teachers in the
district. By fall, all of them had been re-hired. A $10 activity fee
for all high school sports and extracurricular activities was charged
to help meet budget shortfalls, along with a reduction in high school
graduation requirements and elimination of high school classes with
low enrollments. The average class size for high schools went from 22-25
to 27-29 students. High school department chairmen were reduced to five
per school, and a loss of $ 1.1 million in federal Title I funds eliminated
130 classroom teacher aides. Reading resource teachers and other specialists
such as speech therapists, social workers, psychologists, adaptive education
counselors, and health clerks were reduced in number.
Dr. Florence Reynolds, the
acting superintendent prior to Dr. Merrill Grant, held one of the senior
administrative positions cut in 1981. She was reassigned to a lesser
position at a significant cut in pay. The action shocked many people
in the community. In the spring of 1982, Dr. Reynolds retired after
39 years in TUSD. Over the next few years, top administrators who had
been hired and promoted by Morrow and Lee retired. Other central administrators
were demoted, again to the dismay of many people. Site administrators
were transferred to new positions, moving those who had been in one
place for more than 5 to 7 years. Many of the administrators who had
been hired and promoted in the post-World War II boom were now reaching
retirement age, and the district was open to new administrative leadership
in many areas. Over this decade an early retirement program was opened
by the legislature which made it desirable to leave in a time of turmoil.
The fall of 1981 showed a
continuing drop in enrollment, to 54,092 students in 99 schools. At
the corresponding time, the percentage of minority students in the district
continued to increase to 39.4 percent of students. A 3-year study of
dropout rates acknowledged some improvement in a slow but consistent
trend.
Facilities decisions and
new magnets
A remodeling project for 10 schools more than 40 years old began in
1982. Wakefield, Mansfeld, Doolen, and Safford Junior High Schools,
as well as Miles, Menlo Park, Hughes, Wrightstown, Ochoa and Safford
Elementary Schools would be brought into more modern condition. A citizen
committee and the school board considered closure of 32 under-enrolled
schools. The final disposition affected five schools: Gump, Brown, Bonillas,
Booth and Fickett.
Gump Adaptive Education School
and Brown Elementary School were closed. The Gump students and school
name were relocated to the Brown campus at a cost of $858,669. The name,
Brown Elementary School, was retired from the district rolls. The relocated
Gump School was then closed permanently in 1992 and its students were
reassigned to the three other adaptive education schools. The Gump School
name was then also retired from the district rolls.
In 1981, a group calling
itself the Citizens for Basic Education had asked the school district
to open a "back to basics" school as its next alternative
program. They wanted a program which emphasized the 3R's, patriotism,
discipline, and a dress code. The group also asked for intensive phonics
for reading instruction, math learned through rote memorization, social
studies taught as facts, and strict grading and testing. The back-to-basics
magnet school was placed at the under-enrolled Bonillas campus, where
it was called Bonillas Basic Curriculum School.
In 1986, the Basic Curriculum
Middle School was formed to continue the Bonillas program into middle
school years. The BCMS was housed at Vail Middle School until 1992.
At that date, BCMS was moved to the then vacant Gump campus, and the
school was renamed Dodge Middle School. Ida Flood Dodge had been a teacher
in the Tucson Public Schools for 33 years in the early days of the school
district. She was a student at Safford School at the turn of the century.
Mrs. Dodge, as a girl, had been part of the family which lived in the
Old Adobe High School building for a time. She was also an author and
historian. The 1989 bond project provided the funds to renovate the
old Gump campus into a middle school design.
Parents in the Booth Elementary
and Fickett Junior High area successfully persuaded the school board
to open in 1984 a K-8 math and science magnet school using the joint
campus rather than closing the schools. Neither Bonillas nor Booth-Fickett
were included under the desegregation court order, but both were open
to students from all over the district. The vacant University Heights
Elementary School was sold to an apartment developer for $800,000, and
Roosevelt Elementary was sold to Pima Community College to become part
of its Downtown Campus.
The board decided to rename
Special Projects High School in time for the 1982-83 school year. The
name chosen was University High School, to reflect the advanced placement
courses commonly available at the school. Conflict over the placement
of University High School on the campus of Tucson High arose in early
1983. Parents complained that less than 12 percent of the University
High enrollment was from minority students. Tucson High parents felt
discrimination in the quality of classes and equipment available to
their children, in contrast to those for the University High students
on the same campus. Throughout the next twelve months controversy swirled
over whether the school should be moved to the campus of Roskruge or
Rincon, with parent groups arguing for both sites. In October, 1984,
the board voted to move the program to the Rincon High School campus,
where it remains.
Educational activities
and community support
The district began its annual Love of Reading Week celebration in February
1982. The districtwide program featured community leaders, authors,
employees, and parents all sharing with students their enjoyment of
reading. Civic officials, businessmen, and district administrators took
time to read a story and talk about reading in their lives in classes
all over the district. The celebration takes place concurrently with
Valentine's Day each year for a full school week.
Vocational programs listed
in a school board report from 1981-82 included Auto Mechanics, Computing
and Accounting, Cosmetology, Consumer & Homemaking Education, Child
Care and Guidance, Distributive Education, Office Occupations, Trades
& Industrial Education.
Computer use in the schools
appeared in a 1983 newspaper article stating the district had 474 computers
for 53,283 students, with 345 of those computers at the high schools.59
Individual elementary schools might have single computers purchased
through PTA funds. Later in the decade several of the high schools installed
computer labs for remediation programs. Twelve elementary and middle
schools also acquired small computer labs as part of various pilots
of integrated learning systems. The district began a phasing in process
of buying hardware and software so each school would have some access
to computer technology.
Community participation and
financial support for the school district were organized in the formation
of the Educational Enrichment Foundation (EEF). The EEF raised funds
which were granted to teachers and schools to carry out innovative teaching
ideas. As time went on, the EEF provided a support system for students
having difficulty paying fees for extracurricular activities, and helped
raise funds for the Clothing Bank as well.
Other types of assistance
for the school district came from the community. Ronald D. Kohn, a 45-year
old real estate investor wrote a $25,000 check to the district to be
used for remedial reading programs. The IBM Corporation provided fundamental
management training for 120 administrators in a week-long seminar in
1984-85.
Secondary school issues
High school vocational programs at the start of the '80s included: Auto
Mechanics, Computing and Accounting, Cosmetology, Consumer and Homemaking
Education, Child Care and Guidance, Distributive Education, Office Occupations,
and Trades and Industrial Education.
The district continued to
work on the dropout problem throughout the decade. Alternative endeavors
such as middle school accommodation and high school accommodations,
the bridge program, and Project RISE joined the list of more conventional
alternatives such as Project M.O.R.E. and the inhouse suspension programs.
A variety of sources provided funds for specialized efforts, including
a Yaqui tutoring program.
In 1984 the state legislature
passed two bills providing for two important changes for high school
students in Arizona. Representative Carmen Cajero of Tucson succeeded
in passing legislation authorizing free high school textbooks starting
with the freshmen in the fall of 1985, and phasing in for all grades
by 1989. The second law required at least a 10th grade education for
all students. Previously only an 8th grade education, or age 16, whichever
came first, was required. Rep. Cajero and her late husband, Rep. Bernardo
"Nayo" Cajero, sought this law since 1966. The textbook bill
was signed into law at Tucson High School, and the 10th grade education
requirement was signed into law at Carrillo Intermediate Magnet School.
The TUSD High School Task
Force issued a critical report in 1984 saying the high schools lacked
quality programs, good management, and efficient organization. After
studying the district for four months, the Task Force called for strengthening
the instructional leadership and providing more time for instruction
and counseling. They asked for a better and more complete informational
system that would provide student data in a timely fashion. In addition,
they wanted standards defined for graduating seniors. Pueblo, Cholla,
and Tucson High Schools were identified as having more problems than
the other district high schools.
Dr. Grant described Pueblo
High School as being top priority for improvement in January, 1984.
A month later Tucson High was designated a "new school" which
required all staff to reapply for their positions. The tactic, first
used after the desegregation settlement, was used at various schools
throughout the decade when site administration problems appeared to
be critical. Pueblo High, Fort Lowell Elementary, and Vail Middle School
were some of the schools to be so designated, as well as the new magnet
schools.
Native-American groups asked
for funding for an Indian Education Plan to increase academic achievement.
They pointed out the Yaqui dropout rate was 26 percent at Cholla High
School alone.
Coalition for Educational
Excellence
Dr. Grant's period of accord with the school board came to an end. In
1983, his contract was renewed by a 3-2 vote, with board members questioning
administrative changes and board superintendent relations. Financial
problems continued. A series of building maintenance problems ranging
from leaking roofs to allergy-causing moldy insulation brought board
complaints about spending capital funds for salaries and educational
programs. The following year, although the district received its first
"clean" financial audit in 10 years, the board still turned
down three of Grant' s ideas for reorganization as not matching what
the board felt was needed.
On the heels of these problems
in March, 1984, came the formation of a community group which called
itself the Coalition for Excellence in Education. The organization was
composed of district employees, business and professional people from
the Tucson community, and interested parents. Warren Rustand, a local
business leader who chaired the desegregation Facilities Committee and
was active in designing the magnet school program, was chosen as leader
of the Coalition. he local newspapers chronicled the activities of the
Coalition over the next year.
Public meetings of the organization
in local hotels were attended by as many as 600 people. The group said
it wanted to take its concerns to Dr. Grant to work out problems in
the district. They described problems as ranging from poor morale and
quality of education to administrative appointments and budgetary procedures.
The district was quickly polarized, with charges flying in all directions.
Leaders of the Coalition were the targets of death threats and vandalism.
Their motives were criticized as racist and political power plays. Meanwhile
the district administration was accused by the Coalition of illegal
acts and political payoffs in administrative appointments. However,
the school board did bring in an outside agency to investigate certain
allegations concerning the personnel department.
In July, 1984, a new Peat,
Marwick, Mitchell & Co. report focused on management in TUSD. Along
with noting that many of the recommendations from the 1977 study had
been initiated, the report warned, "...the board needs to carefully
determine a point beneath which management reductions will have a negative
impact on educational as well as administrative functions.60
The director of personnel
resigned in August, 1984, amid charges that he had falsely claimed a
university degree on his employment application. In September, 1984,
attorneys for the Coalition and the school district met to discuss Coalition
demands which included firing Merrill Grant.61 February 7,
1985, Dr. Merrill Grant resigned, saying the action was "my move,
my decision completely." He was critical of the pressure on district
workers from the Coalition, saying they were forced to respond to rumors,
innuendo and hundreds of requests for information on a daily basis.
A Star editorial in
February, 1985, described the situation: "...The Coalition for
Educational Excellence....called for Grant's immediate resignation in
December. It described his five years as a failure of management procedures,
processes and style which inspire confidence, trust and loyalty....In
a three year period, Grant, shook up the administrative staff considerably
and therein lies the source of much criticism against him. Out of 192
administrative staff members, 90 percent are either new to the district
or have been transferred or promoted. That disappointed and disenchanted
a lot of people.."
The Magett interval
Dr. Dorothy Magett was named Interim Acting Superintendent a week later,
as a national search for the next superintendent was launched. Dr. Magett
was first hired by Merrill Grant into central administration in 1982,
and then promoted to deputy superintendent in 1983. Now she was the
fourth woman in TUSD history, and the only African-American, to serve
temporarily as the chief administrator. Dorothy Magett had received
her Ed.D. from Northwestem University, and had been hired from Seattle
Public Schools. Soon several board members were speaking of her as a
possible permanent successor to Grant.
Shortly after Dr. Magett
took over, the Board voted to go to the public for support of a bond
issue and override election in May, 1985. A Tucson Citizen editorial
warned, "Tucson's public schools may be headed for big money
trouble if the Legislature doesn't come through with a healthy appropriation....Years
of insufficient support from Phoenix has caused a shortfall that even
austerity can't take care of anymore."
A successful override
election
The voting public responded to the cries of alarm. TUSD successfully
passed a $47.5 million construction bond in 1985, the first in 10 years,
which would go to build three new elementary schools and a new middle
school, as well as provide extensive repairs to many of the older buildings.
In addition the voters approved a $16.1 million budget override. As
a result of the override and new special funding from the legislature,
the district was able to purchase 27 new school buses to replace obsolete
ones. In addition, the legislature provided special funding for a kindergarten
through third grade educational support program to the schools in the
state, to be used to give children a better start in schooling. TUSD
received an extra $1.158 million from the K-3 legislation.
Health issues
A serious measles outbreak in Pima County in April, 1985, struck Tucson
Unified as well. Under orders from Pima County health officials, all
students and employees were required to show proof of measles immunization
or be excluded from school. Four-hundred-forty-seven students were turned
away. In spite of this preventive action, Santa Rita High School reported
19 cases of measles. A few months later, 1,400 students at Pueblo High
required gamma globulin shots after a cafeteria student worker came
down with infectious hepatitis.
Later in the same year the
school district began developing a policy for dealing with Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the schools, after a local physician
informed the district an infected child would be registering. The district
policy was intended to protect the privacy and health of the student
or employee with the disease, as well as that of the community. In 1987,
two years later, TUSD became the first district in the state to adopt
a formal plan for teaching middle school and high school students about
the disease.
Asbestos removal was an expensive
health issue in the latter part of the decade. Although EPA funds assisted
in the cleanup, still almost a half-million dollars was needed from
district funds to accomplish the project.
Cholla High School students
were tested for tuberculosis in March 1990, after 34 students showed
positive tests for tuberculosis. A student came from Mexico with an
advanced case of the disease, resulting in tests initially for his classmates,
and finally for the whole school. Ultimately, 35 students and one teacher
required medication to prevent a full-blown case of the disease.
The board banned tobacco
products and smoking anywhere in district buildings effective January
1991. A six-month phase-out period allowed adults to smoke in privately
owned vehicles or outside of view of students in outdoor areas, but
that would expire in July. The ban also covered district employees doing
their job away from district property, such as crossing guards and field
trip supervision, and volunteers in schools were also included.
Required immunization of
students was enforced by a state law taking effect in 1992. Parents
must provide written proof of immunization prior to enrollment. Students
lacking such proof must be suspended until shots were taken.
Throughout the 80s teachers,
parents, and children complained of health problems related to leaking
roofs, moldy carpets and insulation, allergens, and heating or cooling
problems in the schools. Buildings on both the east and west perimeter
of the district experienced problems dating from poor construction methods.
Notes
59Mary
M. Niez, "Computers aid for pupils who aren't average" Tucson
Citizen November 24, 1983.
60Mary
Bustamante, "Consultants say TUSD is duplicating chores" Tucson
Citizen July 4, 1984.
61 Chip
Warren, "3 on TUSD board charge group is trying 'blackmail' to
get its way" Arizona Daily Star October 2, 1984.
For more information contact: