School board members \u2013 or real estate professionals?<\/p>\n
The line seemed to blend at times during the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board\u2019s March 10 meeting.<\/p>\n
While students and families are aghast at the district closing schools, the soon-to-be-shuttered classrooms create real estate opportunities.<\/p>\n
At the March 10 meeting, the board voted to \u201cflip\u201d one elementary school into a specialized learning school.<\/p>\n
The board also voted to move preschool and community education from a second closing school \u2013 to make room for a to-be-determined tenant.<\/p>\n
The board members also became de facto landlords, approving the lease of an Old Town property to an interesting tenant: the city of Scottsdale.<\/p>\n
Looming in the background is declining enrollment and SUSD\u2019s massive budget hole, which Superintendent Scott Menzel and the board are trying to fill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two big shovels full of money come from the board\u2019s December vote to close Echo Canyon and Pima elementary schools.<\/p>\n
That will save a combined $2.5 million in operating costs \u2026 but, wait, there could be more money here.<\/p>\n
\u2018Shark Tank\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n This was almost like \u201cEcho Canyon Shark Tank,\u201d with entrepreneurs making pitches with the clock running.\u00a0<\/p>\n One is mostly theoretical, at this point.<\/p>\n According to its presentation, \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Launched by \u201cHopi parent Eric O\u2019Connor,\u201d Arcadia Sports and Performance Complex emphasizes \u201cteam work does incentivize kids to stay together.\u201d<\/p>\n It plans to \u201cpreserve and enhance Arcadia Little League\u2019s home for softball,\u201d while offering \u201ctop-tier athletic training facilities for all ages and skill levels.\u201d<\/p>\n And O\u2019Connor promises on-site tutoring, mentoring and social enrichment opportunities<\/p>\n \u201cNot one kid will come to the sports academy and not go to school,\u201d he told the board.<\/p>\n His bottom line:<\/p>\n \u201cWith no district staffing or operation cost, you\u2019ll have a great tenant that will exquisitely maintain the facilities \u2013 and upgrade them.\u201d<\/p>\n Next up to bat: Polaris Academy.<\/p>\n Looking to expand from its Mesa site, this is a \u2018sensory\u2011friendly school with tailored support for autistic and neurodivergent children.\u201d<\/p>\n If Echo Canyon doesn\u2019t work out, Polaris is \u201copen to other sites\u201d in its hope to land in Scottsdale.<\/p>\n Nathan Palmer, one of the Polaris co-founders, underlined the school provides \u201cpurpose-driven education for autistic children.<\/p>\n \u201cPolaris,\u201d he concluded, \u201cis something Scottsdale needs.\u201d<\/p>\n The last of the pitchers: The Jones Gordon School, a \u201cnonprofit independent school serving grades 1\u201312\u201d with a \u201cfocus on dyslexia and related learning differences.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Dana Herzberg, who founded Jones Gordon, \u201cWe have been looking for a new campus for five and a half years \u2013 the second we moved into our beautiful Paradise Valley campus we outgrew it.\u201d<\/p>\n Her soft sell:<\/p>\n \u201cI hope we can be a partner with you guys and possibly bridge some of your goals and dreams for this beautiful campus.\u201d<\/p>\n The hard pitch:<\/p>\n \u201cIn order to demonstrate our commitment to this campus, JGS is<\/p>\n prepared to offer a one-time payment of $250,000 to help secure<\/p>\n the campus by Aug. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike the long-running TV show \u201cShark Tank,\u201d there were no instant decisions here.<\/p>\n The best they got was a pat on the back from Carine Werner:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThank you to all the presenters,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to ensure Echo Canyon continues to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Next steps<\/strong><\/p>\n While Menzel and company need to crunch numbers, they had an immediate ask of the SUSD board:<\/p>\n \u201c… 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Without giving names, Menzel noted others \u2013 likely private\/charter schools \u2013 have inquired about taking Echo Canyon off SUSD\u2019s hands. \u201cI\u2019m not ready to sell \u2013 the direct competition would be problematic,\u201d Menzel noted.<\/p>\n More preferable would be a \u201csymbiotic relationship,\u201d such as the three aforementioned options.<\/p>\n Yet another option is an \u201carts magnet. We have a subcommittee working on that,\u201d Menzel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing we don\u2019t know,\u201d he said to the board, \u201cis how long you want to wait on the arts magnet to keep it in the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n Board member Matt Pittinsky \u2013 himself an entrepreneur \u2013 told Menzel, \u201cI\u2019d like us to leave this meeting with the most options on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n Menzel advised Pittinsky and the other four board members the next step will be nailing down Echo Canyon\u2019s market value, while analyzing the proposals.<\/p>\n The plan was for Menzel to make one recommendation by May 13 \u2013 but board members pushed back on that, with Werner asking to hear final presentations\/recommendations on all three.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important for us to look at options \u2026 instead of just being presented one option,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard many times it seems like we\u2019re voting on predetermined outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike Sharkey and Pittinsky supported Werner\u2019s idea, though there was no vote on this.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The locations were not part of the agenda item, Menzel noted:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re authorizing us to move (the programs) where it makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n There was unanimous approval for the request, which board president Donna Lewis called the \u201cclear-as-mud repurposing of schools.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Oak Street<\/strong><\/p>\n Remember Tonto Elementary?<\/p>\n While Echo Canyon and Pima families are new to this, Tonto was one of the trailblazers in the \u201crepurposing\u201d department.<\/p>\n The site \u201chas served a variety of needs since Tonto (Elementary) closed,\u201d Menzel told the Progress.<\/p>\n Now comes a new one: SUSD renting to the city of Scottsdale.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a win-win in the partnership with the city,\u201d Menzel noted.<\/p>\n After board approval, the city will pay SUSD $15,000 per month for the site 7501 E. Oak St.<\/p>\n 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, \u201cThe city desires to use the district\u2019s property located at 7501 E. Oak Street for the relocation of city staff,<\/p>\n 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The lease agreement provides for an option to renew for up to two additional one-year terms.<\/p>\n \u201cWe learned of (the city\u2019s) interest due to significant renovation going on at some of their facilities,\u201d Menzel told the board.<\/p>\n The board unanimously approved the agreement.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Pima Level D<\/p>\n An idea to repurpose Pima Elementary School passed \u2013 but with some discontent.<\/p>\n The district\u2019s own pitch, on this one:<\/p>\n \u201cScottsdale Unified School District currently spends more than $2.5 million \u2026 on private placements for students with significant special education needs due to limited in-district program capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n With Pima closing in months, \u201cThe district has an opportunity to repurpose Pima Elementary \u2026 into a Level D Special Education Public Day School serving K\u201312 students with significant medical, behavioral, and structured teaching needs.\u201d<\/p>\n This would \u201credirect a significant portion\u201d of the $2.5 million being spent out-of-district \u201ctoward district-operated services.\u201d<\/p>\n Board member Amy Carney wondered, \u201cDidn\u2019t this district try to do Level D before?\u201d<\/p>\n Brooke Williams, SUSD\u2019s director of Special Education, explained, \u201cOur proposal is to run this Level D like a school.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat (SUSD) did before was just programming and didn\u2019t have the other components.\u201d<\/p>\n Hearing that, Werner said, \u201cThis is uncharted territory for SUSD. I\u2019m greatly concerned we\u2019re going to be able to do that successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"School board members \u2013 or real estate professionals? 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