TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Parents, students and staff at Collier Elementary are not simply opposing the school's proposed closure — parents, teachers, and students are staging a walk-in protest, asking the Tucson Unified School District to go in the opposite direction and expand the campus.
Collier is on TUSD's list of schools proposed for closure and consolidation. Under the current district plan, the school would close and its students would move to nearby Bloom Elementary.
The governing board is scheduled to make its final decision on Dec. 8.
PTA President Alexis Cervantes said her family has attended Collier for generations, and the prospect of the school closing has weighed on the entire community.
"It's devastating for the kids, for the teachers, for the families that live in this neighborhood," Cervantes said. "I understand that TUSD needs to make budget cuts, but at the expense of our kids and their education, it's really hard to hear that they're willing to kind of give up on all of us."
Fracisca Maldonado, a Collier teacher with 16 years in the classroom, said the culture at the school is worth protecting.
"I've been teaching for about 16 years, and I have never been at a school where the kids cared so much. The staff cared so much." Maldonado said.
Rather than accepting the closure, the Collier Parent Teacher Association brought a counter-proposal back to the district.
The plan would transform Collier into a K-8 school with a focus on environmental learning — an expansion the community argues would grow enrollment and offer something the east side of Tucson does not currently have.
A petition backing the proposal has gathered more than 1,000 signatures. Cervantes said the effort reflects how far the community is willing to go.
"That's why we've done everything we can. We've made proposals to the board to kind of show them that we're willing to put in the work to make the changes." Cervantes said.
TUSD Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo said the district is taking the proposal seriously and reviewing whether the model is financially viable.
"And so Collier has a vision for that kind of an experience, which would be unique to the east side. As I told the parents last week, that's a very, very innovative and creative proposal. We're certainly going to run the numbers on that, take a look at it." Trujillo said.
The Collier community is continuing to build its case as the governing board moves toward its Dec. 8 decision on school closures and consolidations across the district.
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