Van Horne Elementary School opened in the 1974-75 school year. The
$897,854 school at 7550 E. Pima Street was named in honor of James ("Doc")
Van Horne. He began teaching in 1925 as a chemistry instructor at Tucson
High and later became the head track coach. His teams won 13 state championships.
Van Horne joined the military during World War II, but returned to teaching
and coaching at Tucson High in 1945. Van Horne entered administration
in 1953 as dean of boys, progressing to assistant principal and athletic
director at Pueblo High before retiring in 1959.
In that same year Warren Elementary was named for Frances Jane Warren,
a widow with a young daughter when she moved to Tucson in 1881. Having
been a school classmate of Professor George Hall, who was then the principal
of the Congress Street School, she was employed as a substitute teacher.
Later she taught at the Old Adobe School, Congress Street School, and
Safford School. Mrs. Warren served briefly as superintendent of the
school district in 1895, after Miss Lizzie Borton resigned from that
office. During her brief superintendency, one of the school board members
objected to the idea of a lady holding that position. Mrs. Warren worked
in the district for 29 years, retiring in 1907. Warren School was built
at 3505 W. Milton Road for $986,853.
L. Marguerite Collier Elementary School was completed at a cost of
$891,632 in time for the opening of school in 1974. Collier is located
at 3900 N. Bear Canyon Road. The school was named for the vocal music
teacher who inspired "Los Posadas" celebrations at Carrillo
Elementary. Miss Collier taught at Carrillo for many years.
The fourth elementary opened in the 1974-75 school year was Alice Fulmer
Dunham Elementary School. Mrs. Dunham had been supervisor of primary
grades at the time of her retirement in 1961. She was a teacher and
principal for 25 years in Tucson after coming here from Kansas. Mrs.
Dunham was an advocate for public kindergartens and a trustee of the
Tucson Public Library. The school is at 9850 E. 29th Street.
Also in 1974-75, Gridley Junior High School opened, at an original
construction cost of $1,973,050. Gridley, located at 350 S. Harrison
Road, was the first recipient of 6th graders from overcrowded Henry
Elementary in the fall of 1976. The school was changed from a junior
high to a designated "middle school" to reflect the new 6-7-8
configuration. The school was named in honor of Rollin T. Gridley, the
first principal of Catalina High School. Gridley served a total of 42
years in Tucson School District 1, including teaching social studies
and coaching at Tucson High, where he entered administration. In 1950
he became the principal of the Adult Evening School, a position he held
until the opening of Catalina High School.
Although the pace of construction slowed, new schools were still needed.
In 1976-77, Frank Borman Elementary School, costing $2 million, was
opened on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base at 6630 Lightning Drive to relieve
the overcrowding at Smith Elementary School. Borman was named for the
Gemini Space Program astronaut and Tucson High star quarterback. Frank
Borman grew up in Tucson, attending Hughes Elementary and Mansfeld Junior
High as well as Tucson High. He made history in the 1960s with 2 Gemini
space flights which paved the way for the first moon landing.
Enrollment declines and financial troubles
The highest enrollment peak in Tucson history was reached in 1973, at
63,488 students. Two years later the enrollment dropped to 60,408. The
city of Tucson was expanding on its edges and the surrounding school
districts began to grow. By 1978, the official count of active schools
included 70 elementary schools, 17 junior highs, 11 high schools including
Project M.O.R.E. and Special Projects, and 4 adaptive education schools
for a total of 102. Throughout the '70s the school board struggled with
the issue of school size. In 1976 there were 15 elementary schools with
enrollments of less than 300. Other problems related to enrollment decline
in a period of inflationary increases made administration difficult.
Districts were limited to 7 percent increases in their annual budgets,
minus enrollment declines. State financial aid was based on the number
of students enrolled, and when that number went down, costs did not
necessarily follow. A larger share of the financial load would be carried
by local taxpayers. Although across the district enrollment might fall
by 1000 students a year, at individual schools the numbers did not necessarily
reflect an empty classroom. If only one or two students in each grade
or class left, the overhead would not be reduced in a school.
Parents usually objected to combination classes and vigorously opposed
closing their own neighborhood schools, as cost-saving measures. Because
School District 1 had such a high percentage of experienced and highly
educated teachers, personnel costs for teachers were among the highest
in the state. Gas prices went up dramatically, as did insurance premiums
and school supplies. Inflation was running above 10 percent during much
of the '70s.
The 1970s were years of conflict for the school district from many
directions, reflecting the social turmoil of the nation. State aid to
schools declined, while costs increased. Utilities in 1975 went up by
50 percent, while some instructional materials doubled in price. Cuts
in the budget were an annual problem, especially when the public refused
to allow a $1.9 million override in June, 1975. The legislature increased
state mandated requirements for educating the handicapped, but reduced
the promised appropriation to support the programs. In 1976, a district
official noted that state aid was only about 47 percent, far short of
the 90 percent originally promised.
Community complaints and high school problems
Another political change happened in 1975. Raul Grijalva was the first
Hispanic to be elected to the school board in 23 years. Since his election,
there has continued to be at least one Hispanic member on the board
every term. Grijalva made minority community concerns a priority and
quickly became a focal point for board conflict. He was often at odds
with the board majority of Helen Hafley, Soleng Tom, and Dr. Mitchell
Vavich, as well as Superintendent Lee, over the educational needs of
bilingual and minority children. He was openly critical of past educational
and administrative practices, and supportive of parental concerns raised
during the years of desegregation investigation. Both sides of the conflict
spoke openly of their frustrations in dealing with change.
Problems with high school violence were headline stories throughout
the 1970s. Fights requiring police intervention were reported at most
of the high schools, with related crime problems in the immediate neighborhoods.
Racial and cultural incidents, and concerns about drugs and weapons
surfaced repeatedly but in small proportion to the numbers of students
in the high schools. Often incidents involved non-students who entered
the campus looking for trouble. The Ku Klux Klan tried to make headway
at a few high schools, but was firmly rejected. There would be a flurry
of comment in the press for several days about an incident at a particular
school. The next year a different school would hit the headlines.
African-American and Mexican-American parents criticized the district
at a public meeting for "allowing a virtual collapse of serious
discussion on educational issues important to them."33
New policies were adopted, monitors were hired, lunch periods were
shortened and fences built to keep out non-students. Individual high
schools drafted their own site-based plans to address their particular
situations. As each outbreak and resolution was described in the newspapers,
articles of the times reported student concern that they would lose
their freedom. By 1977, school board members were calling for a study
of how to deal with student violence in the high schools. Meanwhile,
although student enrollment went down in this decade, annual student
suspensions rose from 344 in 1975-76 (the first year statistics were
kept) to 1,780 in 1978-79. In that year, 1,325 of the suspensions were
of high school students.
Dr. Lee and the individual school board members began holding "rap
sessions" at the various high schools. The sessions were limited
to 25 students at a time who were randomly selected from those who signed
up for the opportunity. Informal conversation offered the officials
the chance to hear student concerns directly.
By 1974, previously gender-separated school activities were reflecting
the changing attitudes of the era. Home economics, auto mechanics, choirs,
and sports were opened to students of both sexes. Girls' varsity sports
were added, opening opportunities for females to team college athletic
scholarships.
More economic woes
An attorney general's opinion issued in 1976 caused a $300,000 budgetary
impact on the school district. The opinion, written by Bruce Babbitt,
declared that the Arizona constitution called for free education for
grades 1-8, and that free meant students in those grades could not be
required to provide their own pencils, paper, crayons, scissors, physical
education uniforms or other needed materials. The schools could no longer
charge parents for consumable student workbooks, field trip fees, or
home economics and shop supplies. A supply list was issued for schools
which directed that children in first grade would be allocated, among
other equipment, "1 large lead pencil and 1 regular pencil per
month," while 4th-6th graders would receive " 1 pencil every
two weeks, 1 ballpoint per year and paper as distributed."34
Budgetary cuts throughout the '70s were extensive. Teaching positions
were cut, particularly in the curriculum and resource areas. Class sizes
were increased. Administrative positions were combined and others were
left vacant. Counselors, social workers, psychologists were trimmed.
Teacher aides and library clerks were also reduced in hours and benefits.
High school graduation requirements were reduced from 20 to 19 credits.
Coaching staffs and junior varsity sports were cut back or eliminated.
Supply budgets and instructional department material requests were whittled.
Custodial and grounds maintenance crews were slashed. Field trips were
reduced for elementary and junior high schools. SecretVerdana
and clerical
staffs at all levels were reduced in numbers, and overtime was curtailed.
Summer contracts were virtually eliminated for most school support areas.
The Adult Evening School was eliminated. Travel and released time for
teachers was heavily reduced, and administrative travel was cut back.
Many of these areas were trimmed year after year, with additional cuts
continuing to be made well into the following decades. The annual reduction-in-force
(RIF) for certified teachers began in the '70s. Least senior teachers
were notified in April they would not receive a contract for the following
year. Then over the summer most of them would be placed back into teaching
positions as the school district firmed up its projections for enrollment
and employment.
In a 1975 speech, Dr. Lee expressed his frustration with the conditions.
He said, "When the Legislature started out on this attack eight
years ago, we all knew what we were headed for and that was to denude
the schools in the state of Arizona. When you get around to this stage
you will end up with a teacher in a classroom and precious little else."35
Teacher pay increased in the '70s, but did not keep pace with inflation.
In 1972 the base pay for a bachelor's degree and no experience was set
at $7,405. Teachers could now accumulate 200 days of sick leave as well
as take two days for personal business for an "absolutely necessary
reason." Two years later longevity pay for 21 to 30 years was increased
to $200; over 31 to 40 years to $400; and for those few with more than
40 years to $600 a year. Substitute teachers earned $25 a day. By 1977,
base pay was $9,513 and the maximum was $19,502. Still, only once in
1973 had teachers' raises equaled the inflation rate. Strained relations
were evident between the Tucson Education Association and the school
board and administration.
Federal requirements
Until 1971, Special Education programs in School District 1 were limited
to toilet-trained students of normal intelligence. However, Congress
passed legislation which mandated a free public school education for
all children between the ages of three and 22, and later passed more
legislation requiring programs for all handicapped children. Now children
were to be educated to the fullest extent of their capabilities who
previously might have been institutionalized. Children with mental or
emotional handicapping conditions, as well as those of normal intelligence
with physical handicaps were to be placed in the least restrictive environment,
and to be provided year-round programs if the students might regress
without them.
Title IX requirements forced the public schools to offer equal access
to both girls and boys in areas which might previously have been reserved
for males. Sports in particular was affected, and required changes in
program, staffing, and team schedules.
Bilingual education for students who needed it was federally mandated
in 1974. In this area, Tucson School District 1 had made some headway
prior to the federal legislation, but efforts were greatly expanded.
Another similar area was the 1971 requirement that unwed pregnant high
school girls could remain in school. In the '60s, Morrow and the board
had established a Teen Age Parent Program at Roskruge School as part
of the Special Education department. Near the end of the decade teenage
fathers were also permitted to enroll in the program, although few did.
Other Supreme Court rulings had established First Amendment rights
for students, rejected academic tracking, and provided for the right
to a hearing and an attorney in cases of suspension or expulsion.
Notes
33Gerald Merrell, "Minority groups criticize
District 1 on Palo Verde, Pueblo issues" Tucson Citizen
March 16, 1977.
34,'Don't buy school supplies They're free
this year," Tucson Citizen July 31, 1976.
35Tucson Public School District 1, School
Board Minutes Book April 15, 1975.
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