Roosevelt Elementary in south Phoenix to vote on closing six schools

A Phoenix elementary school district could close a third of its schools over the next two years, impacting hundreds of students.

The board of directors of the Roosevelt Elementary School District, which serves south Phoenix, will vote Nov. 21 on a proposal to close five schools before the 2025-2026 school year and one more the following year. It is a response to a long-standing trend of declining registrations.

During a board meeting on Tuesday, Superintendent Dani Portillo described the closures as an “incredibly difficult” but necessary decision that will preserve the district’s finances and promote student achievement. Roosevelt is currently facing a budget deficit of more than $4 million, she said, and without cuts, cash reserves could only support the district for a few more years.

The district’s schools are under-enrolled, Portillo said, and consolidating them would free up more money to spend on things like curriculum resources, teacher professional development, before- and after-school programs, special classes like art and music, and the remuneration of the staff. advantages.

“We need the resources so that they impact our students’ learning,” Portillo said.

Roosevelt schools as a whole are at 56% capacity, Portillo said. After the closures, the district would be 77% full, she said.

A public hearing on the possible closures is scheduled for Tuesday, November 19.

Which schools may close?

The board will vote on Portillo’s recommendation to close the following five schools before next school year:

Close Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary and move approximately 240 students to the Percy L. Julian School.
Close Maxine O. Bush Elementary and move approximately 300 students to Cloves C. Campbell Sr. Elementary. Portillo said Tuesday she planned to reopen Bush as a magnet school for the 2026-27 or 2027-28 school year.
Close the CJ Jorgensen Academy of Service Learning and move approximately 240 students to Ed and Verma Pastor Elementary.
Close the VH Lassen Academy of Science and Nutrition and move approximately 260 students to the Ignacio Conchos School.
Close John R. Davis Elementary and move approximately 330 students to Sunland STEAM Academy.

Another school, the John F. Kennedy Academy of Inquiry, would close before the 2026-2027 school year, with the school’s approximately 345 students moved to the CO Greenfield Academy of Design and Innovation.

‘Living history’: Community members ask administration not to close schools

On Tuesday, board members and district leaders faced an outpouring of opposition to the possible school closures. Community members and district alumni told the board they believed the plan would erase important elements of South Phoenix and African American history.

Cloves Campbell Jr. told the board that he understood the importance of fiscal responsibility. Still, he said, “the historical implications of schools named after our African American citizens and leaders over the past fifty to sixty years are something that we are very proud of, and we want to make sure that we maintain the integrity that we have. built over the past fifty years.” One of Roosevelt’s schools is named after his father, Cloves Campbell Sr., the first African-American member of the Arizona Senate, although it is not one of the schools that may become Closed.

Hanifah Holsome told the board she attended King Elementary. ‘Why would you close something so historic?’ she asked the board. “It is a mainstay in our community.” Cynthia Roberson, a 15-year-old South Phoenix resident, described King Elementary as “living history.” Dana Burns, a member of the south Phoenix community who visited Roosevelt, said she was concerned that all but two of the schools slated for closure were named after black leaders.

“Miss Maxine O. Bush happened to be one of my mother’s best friends,” Burns said. “We are asking for a delay in the process so that you can properly hear the voices of the community.” Bush, who died in 1985, was a teacher in the district and a member of Southminister Presbyterian Church and the NAACP, according to an obituary published in The Arizona Republic.

After the meeting, Burns said she believed the district had valid reasons for closing schools, but she wanted district leaders to understand the significance of the Black culture and history embedded within them.

Martha Thomas, a district social worker and president of the Roosevelt Education Association, the union representing Roosevelt Elementary staff, thanked the board for addressing the issue and for including her on the committees that helped create the recommendations.

“Thank you for not pushing it aside and letting it get worse than it is now,” Thomas said.

Signa Oliver, a member of the Phoenix Union Governing Board, said community members should have been involved in Roosevelt Elementary’s planning discussions earlier instead of rushing in at the last minute to protest closures. She said she campaigned for the district’s $150 million capital financing bond measure and attended listening sessions on possible school closures. The bond was on the Nov. 5 ballot and was approved by voters.

“If you all want to come help, come help,” Oliver said, addressing the audience. “There’s work to be done. It’s not just about coming in at 11 o’clock and saying, ‘What are you doing?’ You have to be here all the time.”

District is struggling with declining enrollment and budget deficit

Enrollment at Roosevelt Elementary has fallen steadily since 2006, from more than 12,000 students during the 2006-2007 school year to about 7,200 now, according to a presentation by the district’s demographer, Applied Economics, at Tuesday’s meeting.

Board Chairman Shelley Jackson attributed the enrollment decline to declining birth rates across the country, inadequate funding for public education at the state level and the high level of competition in South Phoenix from charter and private schools.

Arizona’s birth rate fell 33% from 2007 to 2021, according to data from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

There are 23 public charter schools in or near the district serving more than 6,900 students, and charter enrollment has increased by nearly 4,000 students since 2010, according to the Applied Economics presentation. The district is also losing children to the nearby Kyrene, Laveen, Tempe and Phoenix elementary districts, which enrolled more than 1,700 students from Roosevelt’s boundaries in the 2022-2023 school year, according to the report, and several hundred students are enrolled in six schools. private schools in or near the neighborhood.

According to state data, 900 students in Roosevelt’s boundaries receive voucher funding from the state’s universal Empowerment Scholarship Account program.

Roosevelt Elementary isn’t the only district in Maricopa County struggling with declining enrollment. In September, Tempe Union announced it would eliminate dozens of positions next year due to declining number of registrations. Last spring, Mesa Public Schools announced it would cut 385 full-time jobs before this school year; enrollment had dropped by almost 12% between the 2013-2014 and 2023-2024 school years. In February, Paradise Valley Unified School District decided it would close three schools in July due to declining registrations.

Roosevelt Elementary has already cut $3.7 million in staff positions, according to a presentation by Portillo on Tuesday.

School board members appear willing to approve the closures

Most board members seemed willing to approve the closures.

“When we talk about the school closures or the severity of the situation, at least for me, this is also personal,” said Jackson, the board chairman, adding that her family has a long history with Roosevelt elementary schools. But if the district doesn’t make cuts, Roosevelt will suffer financially, she said.

Board member Ashley Hodge agreed that the board would have to make “tough decisions” to improve children’s academic outcomes.

“We must ensure that our academic standards and rigor are competitive,” Hodge said. “We owe that to our children, but we cannot do that without resources.”

Only one member of the five-member board, Lawrence Robinson, explicitly opposed the proposed closures. He said Tuesday he wanted to leave the decision to the next board. Robinson’s term ends in January, along with Jackson and Alexis Aguirre. None of them stood for re-election.

“I feel like it was incumbent on this board… to have a plan to use that $150 million to offset the need to close campuses,” Robinson said, referring to the $150 million bond measure which was approved by voters last week. “What I’m asking of us is to take a deep breath and let the new board, who will own and sell this, make the decision next year.”

Jackson, on the other hand, said she wanted the vote to take place before winter break — and before the new board takes office — to give families enough time to plan for the closures.

“If we continue to cut corners or don’t make tough decisions, every board will say, ‘Wait until next year,’” Jackson said.

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