By Staff Reporter |
The Kyrene School District (KSD) will be closing six schools over the next two years due to budgetary concerns from declining enrollment.
After months of deliberations, the KSD Governing Board voted unanimously to close four elementary schools and two middle schools.
The four elementary schools closing are Kyrene de la Colina, Kyrene de la Estrella, Kyrene de las Manitas, and Kyrene Traditional Academy. The two middle schools closing are Kyrene Akimel A-al and Kyrene del Pueblo.
Kyrene de la Colina, Kyrene de la Estrella, and Kyrene de las Manitas will close in the 2026-27 school year. Kyrene Traditional Academy, Kyrene del Pueblo, and Kyrene Akimel A-al will close in the 2027-28 school year.
This consolidation will result in the boundary modification of nine schools within the district: Kyrene de la Esperanza, Kyrene de las Lomas, Kyrene del Milenio, Kyrene de la Mirada, Kyrene de la Sierra, Kyrene Altadena, Kyrene Aprende, Kyrene Centennial, and Kyrene Middle School will experience boundary changes.
The governing board projected the six closures would save the district around $5.8 million annually, thereby avoiding most of a projected $6.7 million budget deficit.
Some parents who spoke against the school closures asked the governing board to reduce the number of closures to five instead of six. Overall, most who took to the podium recognized the need for a reduction in the number of schools in the district.
Superintendent Laura Toenjes promised the district would prioritize student needs during the upcoming transition.
“This is about caring for people through change and making sure students and staff are supported every step of the way,” said Toenjes.
KSD will provide families with information on enrollment pathways and school assignments, bell schedule updates, and transportation information in January prior to the enrollment portal opening in February.
Per the Common Sense Institute Arizona, KSD’s enrollment declined by nearly 20 percent over the past six years, but its budget increased by nearly 80 percent.
A data dashboard on all district enrollment, capacity, and budgets by the Common Sense Institute Arizona shows that over half the school districts in the state have declined in enrollment since 2019.
On average, their research found school districts haven’t grown since 2008. Apart from the declining student-age population, parents are choosing alternatives to traditional public schooling. Charter school enrollment nearly doubled during the pandemic, from 2020 to 2022; a majority of private schools researched had reported enrollment growth; and homeschooling increased from two percent to an 11 percent peak during the pandemic before falling back to a new high average between six and seven percent.
Despite this significant decline in traditional public school enrollment, Common Sense Institute Arizona found, further, that these schools reported a significant increase in spending: 80 percent since 2010.
Since January, at least eight other school districts have announced school closures and consolidations: Cave Creek Unified School District (two schools), Phoenix Elementary School District (two schools), Mesa Unified School District (staff layoffs), Isaac School District (two schools), Edkey, Inc. Sequoia Village School (one school), American Heritage Academy (one school), Roosevelt Elementary School District (five schools), Amphitheater School District (proposed four schools for closure).
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