PHOENIX — Roosevelt Schools are facing the possibility of significant changes to accommodate a nearly $5 million deficit.
Superintendent Dr. Dani Portillo told an overflowing room of parents Tuesday night that the district does not have enough money to meet annual costs.
Portillo blames the deficit on declining enrollment and over 30 charter and private schools saturating the district.
The superintendent’s recommendation is to close and merge five schools:
- Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School would close and merge with Percy L. Julian School.
- Maxine O. Bush Elementary School would close and move to Cloves C. Campbell Sr. Elementary School.
- V.H. Lassen Academy of Science and Nutrition would close and move to Ignacio Conchos Elementary School.
- C.J. Jorgensen Academy of Service Learning would close and move to Ed and Verma Pastor Elementary School
- John R. Davis Elementary School would close and move to Sunland STEAM Academy.
Board Member Lawrence Robinson opposed the proposal and suggested cutting costs in other areas of the budget.
“If you just heard this presentation, then you know this is basically a foregone conclusion, right? But it doesn’t have to be because you’re here today,” Robinson said.
Several parents spoke in support of a possible merger.
“If we are supposed to be one South Phoenix, what’s the problem with Julien and King becoming one,” one parent said.
“Stop being selfish. Buildings are not important. Names on buildings are not important. Kids are important,” a community member said.
Other parents are seeking more clarity about what this would mean for their children.
“The transportation of how we are going to get our kids to school if you do combine?” one parent asked.
Some also used the meeting to shine a light on what they believe is a bigger issue.
“We have to take this fight to the legislature. If we let it die here in this room tonight or in the other meetings that the board is going to have, then this will not be the only thing you see cut,” one parent said.
“Sometimes it’s not about money, it’s about people and these are our people, this is our neighborhood, and I ask that you look at it a little closer and come back and give us some more information about why our kids are leaving,” another community member said.
This is the first of two public meetings to review the proposal.
The next meeting is on December 3. The board will vote on December 5.
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