Susd<\/p>\n
The SUSD Governing Board heard an update on \u201cconcierge service\u201d for families of Pima and Echo Canyon schools, soon to close. (YouTube)<\/p>\n
SUSD2<\/p>\n
Superintendent Scott Menzel started discussions on closing two more schools, with decisions to be made by October. (YouTube)<\/p>\n
Susd3<\/p>\n
At least six SUSD schools are on the \u201cPhase Two\u201d list for potential closures. (SUSD)<\/p>\n
SUSD may close two more schools<\/p>\n
By Tom Scanlon<\/p>\n
Progress Managing Editor<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we reduce our footprint by two?\u201d<\/p>\n
That question suggests it could be a long, angst-filled year, for many Scottsdale students and families.<\/p>\n
In December, the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board voted to close two schools \u2013 ending months of meetings highlighted by parents and students begging in vain not to close Pima and Echo Canyon elementary schools.<\/p>\n
Now, at the first board meeting of 2026, Superintendent Scott Menzel pondered \u2013 on several occasions \u2013 \u201cwhat are our options to reduce our footprint by two?\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a euphemism for closing two more schools.<\/p>\n
This process will be even longer than the Pima-Echo Canyon one, as Menzel ultimately will ask the board to choose from a list of multiple schools on the \u201cPhase 2\u201d list.<\/p>\n
In November, Menzel revealed six schools on his \u201cproposed implementation of restructuring in 2027-28\u201d list:<\/p>\n
Anasazi K-5 (407 students);<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Copper Ridge K-8 (440 students);<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Laguna K-5 (302 students);<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Redfield K-5 (376 students);<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Tonalea Middle 6-8 (364 students);<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Yavapai K-5 (345 students).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Though it was not on Menzel\u2019s previous list, Cheyenne Traditional School also has the dubious honor of \u201cmaking the list\u201d of schools that may be closed\/repurposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to reduce our footprint by at least two more buildings,\u201d Menzel reiterated.<\/p>\n
A long road is ahead before a decision is made in the fall, the superintendent stressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s going to be an extensive number of conversations between now and the time that we expect the board will ultimately have to make a decision \u2013 which is in October,\u201d Menzel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this is just the beginning of the journey. No final decisions have been made \u2013 we are open to suggestions from the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menzel hinted at a possible merger of two schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started before the (holiday) break holding meetings with families and staff, first at Copper Ridge, then at Cheyenne,\u201d Menzel told the board.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started those conversations \u2026 in part because of the questions that had been raised and also the conversation around the potential of one campus moving to another.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also scheduled meetings with the other Phase Two schools throughout the month of January,\u201d Menzel added.<\/p>\n
The board also considered a motion made by Carine Werner \u2013 on a subject authored by Amy Carney \u2013 \u201cto establish a Planning and Boundary Design Advisory Committee to serve in an advisory capacity to the Governing Board on matters related to school attendance areas and long-range planning.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the agenda, the purpose of the committee includes\u00a0 \u201creview demographic, enrollment, and facility data; conduct public meetings or hearings to gather community input; provide recommendations to the Governing Board regarding proposed changes to school attendance boundaries; offer long-range planning recommendations related to future school sites and the formation of proposed attendance areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney said she has been trying to form this committee for months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis committee should have been formed long ago,\u201d she complained.<\/p>\n
Carney stressed she wants to give the opportunity for more people to be involved in planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of being reactive I\u2019m looking for ways to be proactive and avoid what just happened,\u201d Carney said, referring to the Pima and Echo Canyon planned closures.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not obvious to me that we did anything that needs to be fixed,\u201d Matt Pittinsky pushed back.<\/p>\n
Pittinsky, Mike Sharkey and Donna Lewis voted against the formation of a Planning and Boundary Design Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n
Phase I<\/p>\n
On Dec. 9, by a 3-2 vote (Lewis, Sharkey, Pittinsky, for; Carney, Werner against \u2013\u00a0 the SUSD board voted to close\/repurpose Pima and Echo Canyon schools at the end of this school year.<\/p>\n
With other potential closures looming, there is still plenty of work to be done on the first phase of Menzel\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n
The board likely will decide what to do with the soon-to-be-empty buildings. Pima and Echo Canyon are 4 miles apart, with booming Old Town smack between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ultimate goal,\u201d Menzel said, \u201cis to bring the recommendations for repurposing of Pima and Echo to the board by the March 10 meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before then, a committee will meet to come up with new options for school boundaries \u2013 which plays into transportation, a big factor for families choosing schools, board members noted.<\/p>\n
After the committee posts map options in mid-January, a public meeting on the matter will be held Feb. 2.<\/p>\n
The board will not make any decisions at the Feb. 2 public hearing.\u00a0 A vote on the attendance areas is scheduled for Feb. 10.<\/p>\n
Lea Mitchell, the district\u2019s assistant superintendent of Educational Services, updated the board on \u201cconcierge services\u201d offered to families and staff at Pima and Echo Canyon.<\/p>\n
Nearly half of the soon-to-be-displaced students have chosen new schools in the district, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf our 266 Echo students that we’re working on right now,\u201d she said, \u201cwe have 115 that have already made decisions for next year and are fully enrolled or in the queue, meaning \u2026 they’ll be fully enrolled tomorrow morning. That’s 43% of Echo Canyon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 101 Pima families that have made decisions,\u201d Mitchell continued. \u201cThat’s 41%. So while there are many Pima families who’ve expressed a desire for boundary decisions to drive their decision, we also have a large number that have already made decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her presentation was upbeat, despite the looming closures:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have kids that are excited and already asking for T-shirts from their new schools, and we’re just really committed to working with each student and each family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cheyenne status<\/p>\n
One option SUSD Superintendent Scott Menzel is considering for a second phase of school closures is a complex shuffling of students and schools.<\/p>\n
As a list was not provided before last week\u2019s board meeting, Kristine Harrington, a district spokeswoman, was asked if Menzel\u2019s \u201cPhase II\u201d list unveiled in November was still accurate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, the focus is on Phase Two schools, which includes those near or below 400 students: Anasazi, Copper Ridge, Laguna, Redfield, Tonalea and Yavapai.\u201d<\/p>\n
So how did how did Cheyenne Traditional School become involved in Menzel\u2019s discussion?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Cheyenne is not a Phase II school and continues to have a<\/p>\n
waitlist due to strong enrollment demand, Superintendent Dr. Menzel also met with Cheyenne because of its potential role in future planning discussions,\u201d Harrington said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs part of Phase II repurposing conversations, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
As far as Menzel meetings at Cheyenne and Copper Ridge, Harrington noted, \u201cThese conversations are exploratory and part of a broader effort to plan responsibly for enrollment trends, facility use, and long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo decisions have been made,\u201d she stressed. \u201cWe remain committed to engaging with school communities throughout the process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Susd The SUSD Governing Board heard an update on \u201cconcierge service\u201d for families of Pima and Echo Canyon…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":510737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,224101,116635,205363,1589,151503,7600,25535,21223,25540,165350,228364,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-510736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-cheyenne-traditional-school","12":"tag-echo-canyon","13":"tag-matt-pittinsky","14":"tag-phoenix","15":"tag-scott-menzel","16":"tag-scottsdale","17":"tag-scottsdale-unified-school-district","18":"tag-superintendent","19":"tag-susd","20":"tag-susd-governing-board","21":"tag-tom-scanlon","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115881958816176842","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}