The meeting families of two Scottsdale schools have been dreading is happening soon.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board meets at Coronado High School
The five-person governing board will decide the fate of Pima and Echo Canyon elementary schools.
Though an agenda was not available as of this newspaper’s deadline, SUSD Superintendent Scott Menzel confirmed closing or “repurposing” the two schools will be addressed Dec 9.
SUSD has been hit with declining enrollment over the last decade – as have other Valley districts, including Kyrene, which is pondering the closure of six of its 19 elementary and two of its six middle schools across Tempe, Ahwatukee and Chandler.
Rick Brammer of consultant Applied Economics recently told the SUSD board the district’s “substantial” enrollment decline is expected to continue.
“The school-age population of the district is projected to decline by about 1,800 over the next 10 years,” Brammer said.
Menzel recently shared a plan with the board for “Potential cost savings of more than $5 million through repurposing of multiple school sites over the next two years.”
Pima and Echo Canyon – the district’s smallest schools – could be just the beginning, or Phase I.
As Menzel stated, over the last six months, “Schools under 300 students were identified for potential action in 2026-27 and those at or near 400 students were included on the Phase II repurposing list with planned discussions launching in January of 2026.”
Six schools are on Menzel’s “proposed implementation of
restructuring in 2027-28” list:
- Anasazi K-5 (407 students);
- Copper Ridge K-8 (440 students);
- Laguna K-5 (302 students);
- Redfield K-5 (376 students);
- Tonalea Middle 6-8 (364 students);
- Yavapai K-5 (345 students).
Menzel previously told the board “the administration will present one option that incorporates both Phase I and Phase II to illustrate how reducing our footprint (reducing the number of schools that are open) will help us increase our impact …”