School board members – or real estate professionals?
The line seemed to blend at times during the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board’s March 10 meeting.
While students and families are aghast at the district closing schools, the soon-to-be-shuttered classrooms create real estate opportunities.
At the March 10 meeting, the board voted to “flip” one elementary school into a specialized learning school.
The board also voted to move preschool and community education from a second closing school – to make room for a to-be-determined tenant.
The board members also became de facto landlords, approving the lease of an Old Town property to an interesting tenant: the city of Scottsdale.
Looming in the background is declining enrollment and SUSD’s massive budget hole, which Superintendent Scott Menzel and the board are trying to fill.
Two big shovels full of money come from the board’s December vote to close Echo Canyon and Pima elementary schools.
That will save a combined $2.5 million in operating costs … but, wait, there could be more money here.
‘Shark Tank’?
For the soon-to-be-empty classrooms at Echo Canyon, the board heard presentations from three would-be tenants: two specialized schools and a sports program.
This was almost like “Echo Canyon Shark Tank,” with entrepreneurs making pitches with the clock running.
One is mostly theoretical, at this point.
According to its presentation, “The Arcadia Sports and Learning Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) public charity that was established in response to the need to preserve Echo Canyon as a community asset.”
Launched by “Hopi parent Eric O’Connor,” Arcadia Sports and Performance Complex emphasizes “team work does incentivize kids to stay together.”
It plans to “preserve and enhance Arcadia Little League’s home for softball,” while offering “top-tier athletic training facilities for all ages and skill levels.”
And O’Connor promises on-site tutoring, mentoring and social enrichment opportunities
“Not one kid will come to the sports academy and not go to school,” he told the board.
His bottom line:
“With no district staffing or operation cost, you’ll have a great tenant that will exquisitely maintain the facilities – and upgrade them.”
Next up to bat: Polaris Academy.
Looking to expand from its Mesa site, this is a ‘sensory‑friendly school with tailored support for autistic and neurodivergent children.”
If Echo Canyon doesn’t work out, Polaris is “open to other sites” in its hope to land in Scottsdale.
Nathan Palmer, one of the Polaris co-founders, underlined the school provides “purpose-driven education for autistic children.
“Polaris,” he concluded, “is something Scottsdale needs.”
The last of the pitchers: The Jones Gordon School, a “nonprofit independent school serving grades 1–12” with a “focus on dyslexia and related learning differences.”
According to Dana Herzberg, who founded Jones Gordon, “We have been looking for a new campus for five and a half years – the second we moved into our beautiful Paradise Valley campus we outgrew it.”
Her soft sell:
“I hope we can be a partner with you guys and possibly bridge some of your goals and dreams for this beautiful campus.”
The hard pitch:
“In order to demonstrate our commitment to this campus, JGS is
prepared to offer a one-time payment of $250,000 to help secure
the campus by Aug. 1.”
Unlike the long-running TV show “Shark Tank,” there were no instant decisions here.
The best they got was a pat on the back from Carine Werner:
“Thank you to all the presenters,” she said. “We want to ensure Echo Canyon continues to thrive.”
Though Menzel stressed he and SUSD administrators need to come back with refined numbers, he estimated any of those three options could generate $1.5 million in rental income.
Next steps
While Menzel and company need to crunch numbers, they had an immediate ask of the SUSD board:
“… authorize the staff to proceed with plans for community education and early childhood programming at alternative locations in order to allow for additional review and consideration of long-term use proposals for Echo Canyon.”
Without giving names, Menzel noted others – likely private/charter schools – have inquired about taking Echo Canyon off SUSD’s hands. “I’m not ready to sell – the direct competition would be problematic,” Menzel noted.
More preferable would be a “symbiotic relationship,” such as the three aforementioned options.
Yet another option is an “arts magnet. We have a subcommittee working on that,” Menzel said.
“One thing we don’t know,” he said to the board, “is how long you want to wait on the arts magnet to keep it in the mix.”
Board member Matt Pittinsky – himself an entrepreneur – told Menzel, “I’d like us to leave this meeting with the most options on the table.”
Menzel advised Pittinsky and the other four board members the next step will be nailing down Echo Canyon’s market value, while analyzing the proposals.
The plan was for Menzel to make one recommendation by May 13 – but board members pushed back on that, with Werner asking to hear final presentations/recommendations on all three.
“It’s important for us to look at options … instead of just being presented one option,” she said. “We’ve heard many times it seems like we’re voting on predetermined outcomes.”
Mike Sharkey and Pittinsky supported Werner’s idea, though there was no vote on this.
Back to the agenda item to essentially clear out Echo Canyon for future use, it was explained that early learning would move to Tavan Elementary School while community education would relocate to Coronado High School.
The locations were not part of the agenda item, Menzel noted:
“You’re authorizing us to move (the programs) where it makes sense.”
There was unanimous approval for the request, which board president Donna Lewis called the “clear-as-mud repurposing of schools.”
Oak Street
Remember Tonto Elementary?
While Echo Canyon and Pima families are new to this, Tonto was one of the trailblazers in the “repurposing” department.
The site “has served a variety of needs since Tonto (Elementary) closed,” Menzel told the Progress.
Now comes a new one: SUSD renting to the city of Scottsdale.
“It’s definitely a win-win in the partnership with the city,” Menzel noted.
After board approval, the city will pay SUSD $15,000 per month for the site 7501 E. Oak St.
While Scottsdale City Manager Greg Caton has not responded to a query on how the city will use the location, according to the SUSD agenda, “The city desires to use the district’s property located at 7501 E. Oak Street for the relocation of city staff,
operation of municipal services, staff and visitor parking, and activity reasonably related to the operation of municipal governmental functions for a two year period of time.”
The lease agreement provides for an option to renew for up to two additional one-year terms.
“We learned of (the city’s) interest due to significant renovation going on at some of their facilities,” Menzel told the board.
The board unanimously approved the agreement.
Pima Level D
An idea to repurpose Pima Elementary School passed – but with some discontent.
The district’s own pitch, on this one:
“Scottsdale Unified School District currently spends more than $2.5 million … on private placements for students with significant special education needs due to limited in-district program capacity.”
With Pima closing in months, “The district has an opportunity to repurpose Pima Elementary … into a Level D Special Education Public Day School serving K–12 students with significant medical, behavioral, and structured teaching needs.”
This would “redirect a significant portion” of the $2.5 million being spent out-of-district “toward district-operated services.”
Board member Amy Carney wondered, “Didn’t this district try to do Level D before?”
Brooke Williams, SUSD’s director of Special Education, explained, “Our proposal is to run this Level D like a school.
“What (SUSD) did before was just programming and didn’t have the other components.”
Hearing that, Werner said, “This is uncharted territory for SUSD. I’m greatly concerned we’re going to be able to do that successfully.”
Though Werner and Carney voted against the idea, with approval from Lewis, Sharkey and Pittinsky, Pima Elementary School will soon become a Level D Special Education Program.