Board of West Valley district takes step toward potential closure of 2 schools

GLENDALE — The Peoria Unified School District Governing Board on Thursday got the ball rolling on the potential closure of two schools with lagging enrollment.

Facing a projected $21 million budget shortfall for 2027, district leaders are exploring the possibility of closing Kachina and Pioneer elementary schools.

They approved a proposal to hear from the community during a Feb. 19 hearing as well as build out a complete plan before a final vote at a date to be determined.

Why is Peoria district considering two school closures?

Kachina (5304 W. Crocus Drive) and Pioneer (6315 W. Port Au Prince Lane) are located about 1.5 miles apart in Glendale. Pioneer currently has 419 students with a capacity of 636, and Kachina has 263 students with a capacity of 708.

The Peoria district created the proposal after its budget increase request was denied by voters in the November 2025 election. That means the budget will face a $33 million reduction spread out over three years.

For next year alone, that’s a $11 million cut combined with another $10 million lost from declining enrollment and carry-forward funding.

Peoria Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Somers said during Thursday’s meeting that the plan is based on an assessment of the district’s enrollment trends, property and financial sustainability.

“It is not a closure plan. It is a diagnostic tool. It provides a district-wide lens to understand the patterns, pressures and misalignment that we are currently dealing with,” he said.

Closure plan would add two lower grades to Cactus High School

The district is discussing options that would repurpose both campuses and move the students in sixth grade and lower to Canyon and Foothills elementary schools. If the plan is adopted, all seventh and eighth graders at the four elementary schools would relocate to Cactus High School, which would add those grade levels to keep up with enrollment trends.

Parents and students from Cactus High School spoke to the board Thursday night, asking them to reconsider the plan for the sake of their high school.

Blakely Slayer is an eighth grader entering Cactus High School next fall. She said she might not have chosen Cactus if she knew seventh graders would be on campus.

“I just think the maturity levels and everything is really off, and it wouldn’t be a good mix because high school is high school and junior high is junior high for a reason. … It’s my community, too, and it’s just like, I wish I would have been informed,” she said.

Declining enrollment means declining state funding

Peoria Unified is projected to lose around 1,000 students a year over the next two years, according to the district. That’s $5 million in state funding lost per 1,000 students. Salaries in the district total $162.9 million yearly.

The district is discussing a systematic method of saving money versus a one-time relief funding plan. It could include a variety of factors, such as staffing adjustments, program redesigns, boundary adjustments, using fund reserves, hiring freezes and delayed maintenance. The district is also considering increasing athletics funds for students to bring in more revenue.

Multiple districts across the Valley have closed schools, or are considering closures, due to declining enrollment and budget concerns.

Gilbert Public Schools will vote on a plan to close one school later this month.

Meanwhile, the Scottsdale Unified and Kyrene districts approve plans last month to close a total of eight schools due to budget issues and low enrollment and Phoenix’s Isaac School District shuttered two campuses last summer.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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