TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A Cochise County elementary school will be closing its doors this summer, just weeks after the Sierra Vista Unified School District voted to close its only middle school.
The Sierra Vista Unified School District (SVUSD) Governing Board voted 4-1 on Tuesday to close Village Meadows Elementary School.
The decision marks the third campus closure for the district since October as officials work to reduce the budget by at least $5 million.
READ MORE | Sierra Vista school district plans to consolidate elementary schools due to budget constraints
District leadership stated the closure is a necessary measure to maintain the quality of education within current financial constraints.
Kristy Holston, an instructional coach at Village Meadows, stood alongside other educators from the school, showing their support despite the sadness they feel.
“It’s a hard decision, and it’s not one that I really wanted to happen ideally, but with the current financial status of the district, we have to become part of the solution as a staff,” Holston said.
Governing board members expressed that the decision was not made easily, but feel some relief after hearing from Holston.
“The attitude that you guys have taken this on with has really made me feel so much better and so much more hopeful. You know it’s absolutely something we need to do," Board Vice President Hollie Sheriff said.
Pat Rochford, an SVUSD board member, echoed Sheriff's remarks.
"I struggled. I had my tears. I walked Village Meadows today and it’s hard," Rochford said. "It's hard when you get close to a school and the faculty and so forth. It's a part of you."
Students currently attending Village Meadows will move to Pueblo del Sol (PDS) Elementary School next year.
“We really have a family feel at Village Meadows, and we know we're going to bring that with us to PDS. They have a great school community as well, so just blending the two, we're trying to focus on the positive things that come out of tough financial situations like a lot of schools all over the country honestly," Holston said.
As a true merging of the two campuses, the Village Meadows wolf mascot will be making the move to PDS too.
"It'll actually be the Wolfpack now, and so keeping our mascot and their name and their location just as a symbolic gesture to our community that there's still gonna be a lot of consistency," Holston said. "The staff's still coming. We're still family, we're just growing a bit."
The board also voted on changing the address of Town and Country Elementary School to the Joyce Clark Middle School (JCMS) campus.
"Town and Country Elementary does not have the facility such as a gym. When the bond came through, they were not one of the schools that received a multipurpose room and they don't have a stage," Interim Superintendent Terri Romo explained.
It will also be renamed Town and Country Neighborhood School and will be a K-8 school for the 26-27 school year. The current Town and Country campus will be renamed the Clark Community Campus in honor of Joyce Clark and will house the district's support offices.
It passed 5-0.
——
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.
