A new Arizona Auditor General report lists Scottsdale Unified School District as “high risk,” citing enrollment declining by 7% over four years and budget limit reserve/operating budget falling 43% in one year.

“Although the district was not identified among the highest-risk districts,” the report on SUSD notes, “review of the district’s data indicates that the district may be moving toward the highest-risk category. 

“We notified the district of this status and will continue to monitor its risks along with all other districts.”

SUSD administration is addressing those issues by “reducing the district’s footprint” via school closures.

At a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2, SUSD administration will present “information regarding potential boundary changes.”

The SUSD Governing Board will not be voting at the Feb. 2 hearing, with a vote on boundary changes expected at the board’s Feb. 10 meeting.

The public meeting will be held in the Governing Board Room located at Coronado High School, 7501 E. Virginia Ave.

The meeting follows the board’s December decision to close and “repurpose” Pima and Echo Canyon elementary schools.

Closing the two schools at the end of this school year will save the cash-strapped district around $2.5 million, according to recent presentations.

According to the agenda for the Feb. 2 meeting, “The purpose of this meeting is to obtain public comment regarding potential attendance boundary changes for students currently enrolled or residing in the boundaries for Pima Elementary School.

SUSD administration is proposing “three alternatives regarding changes to the current attendance boundaries.”

The options to be considered:

 

  • Dividing students currently residing in the Pima Elementary School boundaries between Navajo Elementary School and Yavapai Elementary School. 

  • Dividing students currently residing in the Pima Elementary School boundaries among Hohokam Elementary School, Yavapai Elementary School and Navajo Elementary School.

  • Dividing students currently residing in the Pima Elementary School boundaries between Hohokam Elementary School and Yavapai Elementary School.

Option 1 would expand current boundaries for Mohave Middle School.  

Option 2 would expand current boundaries for Mohave Middle School and Saguaro High School. 

Option 3 would not change feeder patterns in the Coronado complex.

“At this public meeting,” the agenda notes, “attending members of the Governing Board of the Scottsdale Unified School District will gather public input regarding the proposed boundary changes. 

“Speakers will be limited to two minutes and must be present to speak.”

This process is likely to be repeated – perhaps on a larger scale – next year.

The Pima and Echo Canyon closures are Phase I of Superintendent Scott Menzel’s plan to “reduce the district’s footprint,” due to steadily falling enrollment.

In the coming months, the board will consider Menzel’s “Phase II.”

In November, Menzel revealed six schools on his “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).

Though it was not on Menzel’s previous list, Cheyenne Traditional School also has the dubious honor of “making the list” of schools that may be closed/repurposed.

According to a district spokeswoman, “the district has discussed the possibility of combining two Phase II schools into the Cheyenne campus, while relocating Cheyenne students to a larger campus better suited to accommodate the high level of interest in attending Cheyenne.”

As Menzel told the board last month:

“We need to reduce our footprint by at least two more buildings.”