Florence Unified Committee Narrows School Merger Proposal to Four San Tan Valley Campuses
This is a follow-up to our Sept. 1 article, “Four San Tan Valley Schools Named in FUSD's School Closure Recommendations”. The Oct. 13 presentation is the first to name a specific merger.
What the Committee Told the Board
On Oct. 13, a budget committee told the Florence Unified School District Governing Board that the district should merge San Tan Mountain Middle School with Walker Butte Middle School on the Walker Butte campus and move students out of three elementary schools: Copper Basin Elementary, San Tan Heights Elementary, and one of either Circle Cross Ranch or Skyline Ranch Elementary. The committee did not say which of those two. The board received the presentation as an information item and took no vote.
Where Students Would Go
The committee did not say where the elementary students would go. If the board approves changes, district staff would decide that, along with boundary changes, staffing, and where special programs would be placed. The committee also recommended moving Florence Middle School students out of buildings with high repair needs and into other available buildings next to another Florence campus.
The Budget Numbers
The district must cut $5 million to $7 million from its maintenance and operations budget for the next school year. The committee cited aging buildings with large repair needs, falling enrollment at most schools, and a 36% drop in the birth rate from 2017 to 2022. A presenter said most FUSD buildings are at about half of their stated capacity and that serving students in fewer buildings costs less. The committee's model estimated savings of about $5 million from the mergers, a figure the presenter called “conservative” because it assumed some families would leave the district.
Four-Day Week Option
The committee estimated a four-day school week would save about $679,000 from fuel, substitute teachers, and utilities. Those savings could shrink if the district had to pay for meals, staff training, or child care on the fifth day, or if families left for other schools.
Where New Homes Are Being Built
The presentation mapped two areas with new home construction: a small area southeast of Poston Butte High School and a larger area near Magma Ranch, east of Anthem. The presenter said new homes do not automatically bring new students, because families can choose other schools.
Public Comment
A San Tan Heights special education teacher, who is also a parent at the school, asked the board not to close it, saying “closing two schools in the same community would be devastating.” A Copper Basin teacher said the school has no empty classrooms and about 200 preschool students who are not counted in its enrollment, and has specialized classrooms for medically fragile students and other needs. The teacher noted that Copper Basin is in the middle of the district and that closing every school on the list would leave only four elementary schools on the outer edges.
What Happens Next
A special board meeting was scheduled for Oct. 22 at 3:30 p.m. in the district administration building auditorium; the source report does not cover its outcome. Per a June SanTanValley.com report, district staff planned to bring options to the board in November, with a vote scheduled for December. Any approved changes would take effect the following school year. The next regular board meeting is Nov. 10 at 1000 S. Main St., Florence, with a work study session at 5 p.m. and the regular meeting at 6 p.m. Speakers during the call to the public get three minutes each.
Source: SanTanValley.com, “FUSD Proposal Could Close or Merge Four San Tan Valley Area Schools.”