The board could not respond to comments during Thursday\u2019s hearing. The final vote is scheduled for Dec. 9.<\/p>\n
Ainsley, a fourth grader at Pima, said her classmates try not to talk about the potential closure.<\/p>\n
\u201cPima shouldn\u2019t close down because so many families \u2026 put their hard work into it, and them closing it is crushing all of that and it\u2019s ruining their dreams of being whatever they want to be. It\u2019s heartbreaking and it\u2019s something that shouldn\u2019t be happening,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lawmaker thinks more could be done to keep Scottsdale schools open<\/p>\n
Republican state Rep. Matt Gress spoke at the hearing, calling on the governing board to come up with other options.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt appears that there was one option \u2014 which is just closure \u2014 versus redesign, consolidation, selling buildings, leasing properties to keep schools intact. So, I really do think that there\u2019s more work to be done on getting to the final resolution. I\u2019m very sympathetic to the demographic challenges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Multiple generations of alumni spoke about the culture of Pima, which serves students through sixth grade at Osborn and Granite Reef roads<\/a>, and a community that would be destroyed if it was to close.<\/p>\n Kathy-Brie Tompkins, a Pima alum with a child there, is looking for ways to keep the school open.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope they listen to how strong the Pima community is and really consider what a decision like this would mean if they were to close Pima, which is the only A-rated school in the Coronado Learning Community<\/a>,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n Blaire Wilkins, who has a first grader and an eighth grader at Echo Canyon, a K-8 school on 62nd Street near Camelback Road<\/a>, called the closure announcement a \u201cslap in the face\u201d.<\/p>\n During her comments to the board, Wilkins spoke about SUSD\u2019s recommendation for parents at Echo Canyon to move their children to Tavan Elementary instead of Hopi Elementary, a school that is much closer to Echo Canyon. She suggested that is because both Echo Canyon and Tavan are Title 1<\/a> schools, which receive federal support based on poverty levels.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Title 1 designation never really meant anything to us. \u2026 But once we were forced to kind of look beyond Echo Canyon, you start to hear and see and recognize what that means across the district and just the different populations, and I think it was really the distinction between Hopi and Echo Canyon, and then Tavan is being like the next recommendation. Just like I said, it smelled bad,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n You can watch a recording of the meeting here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.<\/p>\n Follow @@shiratanzernews<\/a><\/p>\n We want to hear from you.<\/p>\n Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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