TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind will relocate to Copper Creek Elementary School in Oro Valley this summer. It’s a plan that Superintendent Annette Reichman talked about during a virtual meeting on Thursday. The move comes as the school faces a growing budget deficit that has reached $2.6 million over the past two years.
School officials said the relocation is driven by declining enrollment, which in turn means they get reduced state and federal funding. The school currently serves 115 students, down from 375 at its peak decades ago. The budget shortfall could grow to $3.2 million next year if current trends continue.
Birth rates going down is also something the school cited as a reason they have declining enrollment. It's a trend they said is going to continue for years.
Dan McAlees, who retired from ASDB last year as a teacher, said budget constraints have already impacted student programs for years.
"You need to make sure the students are number one priority," McAlees said.
He said communication services, occupational and physical therapy, training students to use the bus, and community job programs have been eliminated or reduced.
"They are not able to actually get out and meet with the community and the community is not able to meet with them," McAlees said. "They are not developing skills to work with non-ASDB staff, but with people, real people out in the world."
ASDB representatives declined interview requests but confirmed during the virtual meeting that work programs will continue through the Tucson Unified School District. The school also confirmed it will lay off teachers and staff as part of the relocation.
"So there will be no one there that knows the students to help them," McAlees said.
To control costs, ASDB has implemented wage, raise and hiring freezes, reduced extracurricular activities and athletics, and they also stopped filling vacant positions. The school also faces rising costs to repair deteriorating buildings on its current campus.
Moving to Copper Creek Elementary will save money on repairs, water and electricity costs, officials said. The saved funds will be used to expand academic programs, though some students will receive services like Braille instruction through TUSD.
"It is going to be a severely negative impact," McAlees said of the relocation.
ASDB attempted to secure funding from the Arizona State Legislature to build a new facility on its Tucson campus, but lawmakers said they didn’t have the funds. The school's Phoenix campus is also experiencing declining enrollment, losing 50 students over the past three years.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
