Close Cragin Elementary, send students to Blenman in 2027

Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo is urging the district to close Gertrude Cragin Elementary School and relocating students to Blenman Elementary School next year.

Students from Cragin should instead begin attending Blenman Elementary in August 2027, the start of the next school year, he said Wednesday.

Both schools sit in Midtown Tucson. Cragin, 2945 N. Tucson Blvd., is the third TUSD elementary school that Trujillo has openly recommended for closure since Monday. Blenman is to the south, at 1695 N. Country Club Rd.

Trujillo announced in late August that the district was planning to consolidate schools, possibly shuttering up to 10, due to declining enrollment and budget constraints.

Since then, he has worked with a 31-member committee that includes community members and elected officials to identify which schools he would encourage the TUSD Governing Board to shut down.

Trujillo and the committee assessed factors such as empty classroom space, class sizes, transportation and arts, physical education, preschool and extracurricular programs offered at each site in the decision-making process.

District officials have announced one school recommended for closure each day since Monday, with plans of announcing a “sending” and “receiving” school each day ahead of a press conference scheduled for Oct. 27.

TUSD announced Trujillo’s suggestion to close Hudlow Elementary School and move students to Sewell Elementary on Monday. Tuesday, TUSD announced the possibility of moving students from Alice F. Dunham Elementary School to Marshall.

The TUSD Governing Board is slated to vote on whether to approve or reject Trujillo’s recommendations at a Dec. 8 board meeting, after at least two study sessions.

In each case, the “sending” and “receiving” schools are within at least a 10-minute drive of each other.

TUSD lead spokesperson Karla Escamilla said the schools’ proximity to each other factored into Trujillo’s recommendations.

Trujillo previously told reporters he planned to meet first with each school community he recommended be shut down before disclosing those plans to the public.

Escamilla confirmed that was why the district is stretching the closure announcements throughout the week.

Students would move to each of the three declared “receiving” schools at the start of the next academic year.

However, Trujillo previously told called the prospect of closing schools so soon “a little ambitious.”

Parents who attended a series of public meetings to give their feedback on TUSD’s reconfiguration process said they were worried about class sizes and available school programs, along with possible staff layoffs, vacant facilities and the district’s plans to support students adjusting to new schools.