PHOENIX — Phoenix Elementary School District officials have decided to close Heard and Dunbar Elementary schools, citing concerns of declining student enrollment.
A district spokesperson told ABC15 on Tuesday night that the board voted to close down the two schools and redraw district boundaries.
Dozens of families have spoken out against the closures at recent public meetings.
More than 500 students will be affected by the two schools closing. The Phoenix Elementary School District says Dunbar Elementary has 123 students, whereas Heard Elementary has 444.
The state funds schools based on the number of kids enrolled. Then, districts also have to go to voters to increase funding for their maintenance and override budgets that go toward staff pay and additional extracurricular classes, as well as school bonds that go toward school facilities.
Additionally, the district voted unanimously to reduce or eliminate positions, including some bus attendants and drivers, teachers, nurses, instructional assistants, and more, for a savings of more than $8 million.
In anticipation of losing about 20% in Title funding, the district also voted unanimously to eliminate or reduce some Title-funded positions. The reduction will reportedly save more than $3 million of that funding, according to documents obtained by ABC15.
More and more local schools are making these tough decisions.
Some districts saw election measures fail in November. Deer Valley Unified and Higley Unified are among those districts that saw overrides fail, and now they’re discussing cuts for the coming school year.
Districts like Mesa Public Schools and the Tempe Union High School District have made the emotional decision to cut dozens of positions the next school year as declining enrollment continues.
ABC15 reported on both Cave Creek Unified and the Roosevelt School District voting to close down a few schools at the end of this school year.
The Paradise Valley Unified School District closed schools down last school year as well, citing the same reasons of declining enrollment, more school choice and lack of affordable housing.
