Home > Information > School Master Plan

School Master Plan

Proposed boundaries for school consolidations

On December 20, 2012, Tucson Unified School District Governing Board approved closure of 11 district schools and recommended receiving schools to consolidate with the closing schools and accept transferring students. This is a first step toward solving a $17 million budget deficit projected for the 2013-2014 school year.

Consolidation recommendations will be finalized upon completion of a public process of setting school boundaries and federal court approval of those boundary decisions and desegregation requirements. Boundary committees comprised of parents and TUSD staff members will meet to recommend new school boundaries.

In addition, neighborhood meetings were held in January 2013 to gather public input on the boundaries and on any other considerations for the consolidations. These proposed boundaries are still under review by the boundary committees. The proposed boundaries were presented to the Governing Board on February 12. After board approval, they were submitted to the courts. The boundaries are not final until they receive court approval.

Review the proposed boundaries (in PDF).

Governing Board approves closure of 11 schools

Closing schools continue to operate as usual through the 2012-2013 school year

The Tucson Unified School District Governing Board has approved closure of 11 district schools as a first step toward solving a $17 million budget deficit projected for the 2013-2014 school year.

The board also approved recommendations (noted below) on receiving schools that will consolidate with the closing schools and accept transferring students.

The schools that will be closed are:

Hohokam Middle School, 7400 S. Settler
Transferring students will attend Valencia Middle School.
Carson Middle School, 7777 E. Stella Road
Transferring students will attend Secrist Middle School or Dietz K-8.
Schumaker Elementary School, 501 N. Maguire
Transferring students will attend Bloom or Henry elementary schools.
Fort Lowell-Townsend K-8, 2120 N. Beverly Blvd.
Transferring students in grades 6-8 will attend Doolen or Magee middle schools. Transferring students in grades K-5 will attend Whitmore Elementary School.
Corbett Elementary School, 5949 E. 29th St.
Transferring students will attend Wheeler Elementary School.
Transferring GATE students will attend Hudlow or Kellond elementary schools.
Lyons Elementary School, 7555 E. Dogwood St.
Transferring students will attend Erickson or Ford elementary schools.
Howenstine High School 555 S. Tucson Blvd.
Placement of transferring students will be determined soon and may include attendance at Project MORE or the student's home high school.
Maxwell Middle School, 2802 W. Anklam Road
Transferring students will attend Valenica or Mansfeld middle schools or Safford or Robins K-8s.
NOTE: Maxwell will be reopened as a new K-8 school.
Brichta Elementary School, 2110 W. Brichta Drive
Transferring students will attend the new Maxwell K-8 or Tolson Elementary School.
Menlo Park Elementary, 1100 W Fresno St.
Transferring students will attend the new Maxwell K-8 or Tolson Elementary School.
Wakefield Middle School, 101 W. 44th St.
Transferring students will attend Hollinger K-8 or Van Buskirk Elementary School.

Schools approved for closure will continue to operate as usual through the end of this school year, which concludes on May 23, 2013. Academic instruction will not be interrupted and schools will continue to be welcoming and supportive of their students and families.

Additionally, consolidation recommendations are not final until the completion of a public process of setting school boundaries and those boundary decisions and desegregation requirements get approval from the federal court. The school boundary process will include the development of parent and staff regional boundary committees and public meetings. See the notice above for information about neighborhood meetings.

The governing board also approved preparing Manzo Elementary School for a conversion to a TUSD charter school. Sewell and Cragin elementary schools were also under consideration for closure, but will remain open.

The approved closures will cut $4.2 million from next year's budget and provide $4.5 million in annual savings. The district will now work to identify remaining cuts and will review many options including reductions in central administration, general administration, outsourcing of essential functions, reducing benefit costs, and modifying staffing standards.

The district will work to finalize budget decisions by the end of February to facilitate staff transitions and other changes.

About the School Master Plan

As we decide how to close our $17 million budget deficit, it is important that we deliver educational services to retain and attract students to TUSD schools. The community has made it clear that they want schools with the following features:

Quality teachers
Small class sizes
21st Century high-performing classrooms
National Standards Curriculum
Technology

Currently, TUSD has 13,000 empty seats throughout the district – that's equivalent to 26 empty schools. Dollars are being spent to keep schools open, even those that may be half-empty due to low enrollment. It is an inefficient use of taxpayer funds. Consolidating schools will allow available resources to be directed into the classroom so that more money is spent on students rather than on sustaining an overabundance of buildings.

TUSD will factor in operational transportation and energy efficiencies as well as reductions and consolidations in central administration and other administrative areas. However, these reductions in and of themselves will not eliminate the $17 million deficit.

Building consolidations mean more resources for technology and instructional programs and services needed for academic student achievement. We ask our TUSD families, employees, and community to work with us as we strive to both balance the budget and provide each child with 21st Century global educational opportunities.

Questions or comments? Please share them through our Questions/Comments form.