Arizona School Districts Forced to Shutter Schools
Schools around Arizona are Closing Due to Budget Constraints
.
In an effort to work within the anticipated budget the state legislature is providing schools to educate our students, many school districts are beginning to look at the necessity of closing some of their schools.
.
In districts where bonds or overrides were not passed by voters in their local areas, some superintendents and governing boards are considering closing schools within their boundaries. Some of the results of these closures could mean even higher class sizes, which would have an impact in preparing the next generation for the ever-more competitive work force.
.
A special election is being held on May 18, 2010 for Proposition 100. If passed, Proposition 100 will allow a temporary 1% increase to the state sales tax in order to help fund education. For more on the importance of the sales tax to education, please visit our post here.
.
School’s Closure gets Board Approval, The Sierra Vista Herald, by Adam Curtis, February 24, 2010
District May Shutter Another Campus, Sierra Vista Herald, March 24, 2010
“This is a very reluctant vote we have to make tonight,” board member Hal Thomas said. “It’s a self-imposed predicament we’re in, not because we imposed it but because since 1979, the state Legislature has done nothing but throw up road blocks in the face of trying to educate our people in this state.
.
“Finally, they’ve dropped a ton of bricks on us. It’s a classic case where the people being dumped on have to solve the problem and have to solve it in a way we don’t like,” he said. “So I’m going to vote ‘yes’ on closing Apache Middle School and cross my fingers in hope that we don’t have to close any more schools in the future.
.
Apache Junction District Board Votes to Close Two Schools, East Valley Tribune, by Michelle Reese, February 24, 2010
The governing board for the Apache Junction Unified School District voted unanimously Tuesday to close Thunder Mountain Middle School and Gold Canyon Elementary School after this school year.
The board also voted to reconfigure the grades at its remaining schools. The four remaining elementary schools will go from kindergarten through fifth grade to kindergarten through sixth grade. The remaining middle school will convert to a junior high school for seventh- and eighth-graders.
.
Board Axes Daytona, by Jackie Leatherman, News-Herald, February 16, 2010
The Lake Havasu Unified School District governing board unanimously voted Tuesday night to close one of its two middle schools for next fall in order to meet a tightening budget.
.