PARADISE VALLEY, AZ — The Paradise Valley Unified School District will hold several public forums as the district considers plans to close four schools due to declining enrollment.
According to a PVUSD presentation in December, the district has lost more than 700 K-6 students in the last two years for various reasons. The district projects they'll lose even more.
The four schools being considered for closure are Hidden Hills Elementary, Sunset Canyon Elementary, Desert Springs Preparatory Elementary School, and Vista Verde Middle School.
The plan would also mean boundary changes for more than 10 schools.
The first public forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. on January 9, at Sunset Canyon Elementary School. Four additional forums will be held in the next few weeks. More information on the forums can be found here.
Teachers have spoken out against the closures at past public meetings and some have even brought letters from their students.
Some blamed the state vouchers program or affordable housing for the decline in enrollment.
Diving deeper, ABC15 found that in the last year of the Universal ESA program, more than 2,300 students living in the school district started using private school vouchers. It is unclear how many of those students previously attended public school. State Superintendent Tom Horne’s office said in December that they have "no statistical evidence to show that the ESA program has had an impact on these four schools."
The district said $600,000 would be saved for each school closed.
“My students are worth more than $600,000,” said a Vista Verde teacher at a public meeting.
Superintendent Troy Bales says this has been in the works for months and a closure committee worked to make these recommendations.
“It has to be a conversation that we have because we have declined in enrollment,” said Supt. Bales.
He also said the area does not have affordable single-family dwellings popping up like in other parts of the Valley.
The district says with the recommended plan there would be no staff layoffs.
The final vote on the closures is expected to happen on Feb. 8, 2024.
