ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — In October, the Amphitheater Unified School District (AUSD) Superintendent Todd Jaeger announced plans to close elementary schools and at Tuesday night's meeting, those recommendations were given to the board.
Jaeger proposed closing Copper Creek, Donaldson, Nash and Holaway elementary schools due to declining enrollment and budget challenges, allowing for consolidation in several schools.
If passed, it will take effect starting the 2026-2027 school year.
After receiving feedback from the community over the last couple of months, there has been one change to the proposal. The consolidation of half of current Copper Creek students will go to Wilson K-8 rather than Painted Sky, as well as Harelson.
Nash students will be consolidated to Walker and Keeling Elementary. Holaway students will attend Rio Vista.
The majority of Donaldson students will be consolidated into Mesa Verde Elementary, with a small attendance zone adjustment to Walker Elementary for the very small “pocket boundaries” that would have normally attended from the Walker neighborhood — but are currently assigned to Donaldson.
According to the district, the consolidation reflects a necessary pivot from a district built for 19,000 students to one for their current enrollment of about 10,500.
In the Superintendent's Recommendation for Consolidation report, it states, "By rightsizing our physical footprint, we protect the "heart" of our mission: our students, our people and our programs. We choose to invest in students, teachers, and classrooms rather than in the maintenance of underutilized facilities."
The district's director of communications Michelle Valenzuela said there are schools built to hold 600 to 800 kids that only have about 250 kids in them.
She says AUSD has been examining data for over a year.
"So we've been looking at enrollment data, birth rate, feeder patterns, the vouchers system impact on our enrollment," Valenzuela said. "And charter school and private school impact on our enrollment and what that might look like going forward, and also, the capacities of our schools, the cost of operations, and all of those datas into the mix to come to the best recommendation he feels he can make for the health of our district."
In the meeting, it was mentioned that the state's birth rate has collapsed, saying the Arizona Department of Health Services indicates that resident births in Arizona declined by 33% between 2007 and 2021.
Having more than 20 charter schools in the area is also a reason listed for low enrollment in the public schools.
Jaeger says, "Since 2009-2010, charter school enrollment has increased 118,000 students, while other public school enrollment declined by 91,000 students."
On top of that, he says the most recent challenge is the private school vouchers.
In Jaeger's report, it states, "Currently, 1,367 students residing within AUSD boundaries utilize state-funded vouchers to attend private schools or home-school. This represents $13.5 million in state funding diverted away from the public system."
According to Jaeger, the four schools he is recommending to shut down are operating at less than half capacity, and if enrollment goes down, funding goes down.
"We have classes that are too small and rooms sitting empty but still being air conditioned. We have schools that struggle to form a band, orchestra, clubs, and PTO's," Jaeger said. "So to ensure Amphitheater's future and maintain our standards of excellence, we do need to consolidate our schools."
Brad Stein, a parent with three kids at Copper Creek, said parents weren't given much notice of this change and he doesn't think this is the best solution.
"The recommendation to close schools is likely to prompt more parents to seek alternatives outside of Amphi," Stein said. "The recommendation fails to address the real challenge of competition and does not make Amphi future ready. A strong recommendation would not only cut costs but also make substantial investments to improve Amphi's competitiveness. It would present a clear vision for achieving competitive excellence, building on the success of Innovation Academy, engaging the community to develop a plan that effectively competes with the best, expand the STEM focus, establish the school in a central location for easier access for all students. Reduce reliance on bus transportation and associated costs and become a focused hub of excellence that attracts students from charter schools."
Stein said if this passes, it will be devastating for his family.
"We moved to Copper Creek because of the school. Our house, is less than a five minute walk to the school. My son's only in kindergarten and I thought I had five more years there," Stein said.
Teachers and staff from the closing schools will be transferring, staying in the district.
"Teachers from Holaway and staff will follow the kids to Rio Vista, so it is still a change. They'll still be affected, so I don't wanna gloss that over because that's real," Valenzuela said. "And then as much as possible, classified staff will also go along or be given opportunities where they can."
The district says it is important to note that they hire 50 or 60 staff members and teachers every year.
"So we have positions that transition every year, year to year. So we're hoping to place as many of our, certainly teachers, and also our classified staff through the transition," Valenzuela said.
She says it is unknown what will happen to the properties that are closing, but the district will maintain the buildings and grounds until they find a disposition for them.
No decision was made at Tuesday's meeting. The board is scheduled to vote on January 13.
You can find more information on the Superintendent's Recommendation for Consolidation.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
