Parents have mixed reactions to Kyrene School District Board voting to close 6 schools

PHOENIX — Parents of Kyrene School District students had mixed reactions after officials voted Tuesday to close six schools due to declining enrollment and funding.

Some parents support the closures, while others are disappointed in a lack of communication throughout the process.

The Kyrene Governing Board approved a model that will shut down four elementary schools and two middle schools, with three shutting down after this school year and the remaining three closing next year.

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Kyrene currently has 25 elementary, middle and K-8 schools that serve students from Tempe, Chandler, Guadalupe, Ahwatukee and the Gila River Indian Community.

Parents shocked after Kyrene School District closure vote

Jennifer Guzy has one child at Kyrene del Pueblo Middle School, which, along with Kyrene Akimel A-al Middle School, is slated for closure before the 2027-2028 school year.

She said she was “shocked” when the board approved the six-school closure model instead of the five-school model that would have spared both middle schools.

Guzy added that initially, when the district announced the schools it was looking at closing, Kyrene de la Mirada Leadership Academy, the school her younger children attend, was on the list. However, it was removed early in the closure process.

“A lot of the elementary schools that sent (kids) into Pueblo were all on the closure list. So, it was almost like an entire feeder pattern was being disrupted,” she explained.

Katie Garcia has a child with a disability at Kyrene del Pueblo. She’s concerned that other children like her son won’t be able to choose an alternative middle school after the closures.   

“I’m also very concerned for students with disabilities who have (individualized education programs) like my son, because they will probably not be able to open enroll to the school of their choice,” she said. “And that’s just extremely disappointing and frustrating for families who choose schools for their high needs kids intentionally.”

Catharine Parker, whose three children attend Kyrene de la Mirada, said that although her children’s school will remain open, there remains doubt about its future.

“There’s a bit of survivor’s guilt going on here, and even though Mirada gets to stay for now, we still aren’t confident that the district won’t come back in a few years and start this whole process over again,” she said.

The Kyrene School District currently serves 12,000 students across a system built for 20,000 kids. Furthermore, the district is projecting a loss of more than 1,000 students over the next five years.

With state education funding tied to enrollment, the district said the decline would result in a $6.7 million budget deficit if it didn’t act. The closures will save the district an estimated $5.8 million a year, which Superintendent Laura Toenjes said is critical to the district’s future in a message to parents and employees Wednesday.

“The Kyrene Governing Board took what may be the most significant action in our district’s history, in order to preserve the Kyrene experience now and for generations to come,” Toenjes said. “The board’s decision is the result of listening, learning and weighing the real human impact alongside the long-term sustainability of our district.” 

Parents detail concerns with future of Kyrene School District

Now that the list of schools that will close is official, parents spoke about their concerns moving forward.

Guzy said she is worried about overcrowding at the remaining middle schools in the district after all the closures are complete.

“The big concern that a lot of us had was that the electives, the sports, the types of things that make a middle school experience really special, those things are now going to be harder to get into because now we’re going to have way more students trying to make the one team,” she said.

Guzy explained her family will likely not follow the new boundaries when they are redrawn, instead choosing the middle school that is correct for their kids.

Alison Hopeman, a Kyrene parent whose children attend a school that is not closing, added that she approves of the board’s decision and that parents could have been more focused on keeping their schools open rather than on the district’s best interest.

“Our board, our district, our parents and our kids are making the best of a bad situation that’s been handed to us by our state and federal government,” Hopeman said. “Many of the parents who I have spoken with also feel like this is not what we want to be doing, but it’s what we have to do.”

Parker said the district’s lack of communication made the closure process confusing and rushed, leaving the community in “a state of shock” following the vote.

“It was only after vigorous feedback for months that the board started to try to apply consistent criteria to each school in regards to utilization, parent preference and student outcomes, and by then it felt like it was too late, because they were adamant that they would not return to the drawing board,” she said.

More information on the closure of the six schools can be found on the Kyrene School District’s website.

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

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