ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Parents connected to Copper Creek Elementary are reacting to a fast-moving series of decisions after the Amphitheater School District voted Tuesday night to close the campus, followed less than a day later by news that the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind will move in.
The district’s governing board approved the closure despite months of pushback from families.
On Wednesday, the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind announced it had signed a five-year lease to relocate its Tucson campus to the Copper Creek site as early as this summer.
“It’s been a frustrating last 48 hours,” said Shannon Lovemore, a former Copper Creek parent who has been vocal in opposing the closure.
Lovemore said the announcement of the lease added to the frustration for families who had spent months urging district leaders to slow down and consider alternatives.
Caitlin Provencio, another Copper Creek parent, said the timing reinforced a sense that the outcome had already been decided.
“I think it showed just how much they had already had this decision made and everything else was performative,” Provencio said.
Other parents said their feelings about the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind moving into the building are mixed.
“I’m excited it’s going to stay a school,” said parent Jennifer Skinner. “But it’s the way they went about it.”
Several of the parents told KGUN 9 they are now removing their children from the Amphi school district altogether.
The impact is also being felt by staff inside Copper Creek. One teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said employees were left with uncertainty after the vote.
“I guess we didn’t have a whole lot of choice of where we’re going to go,” the teacher said. “It was kind of like, ‘These schools are closing, this is where you’re going. Take it or leave it.’”
For Copper Creek families, the change marks the end of a neighborhood elementary school — and the beginning of a new chapter for the campus.
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