TUSD board approves community engagement plan for school consolidations | News

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – The Tucson Unified School District board voted 3-2 to implement a community engagement plan to discuss potential school consolidations and grade reconfigurations.

The plan includes a timeline for before and after school reconfiguration decisions are made. The district is currently in the “before stage” with Tuesday’s board meeting already built into the plan.

Over the next month, the school board will hold community engagement sessions, conduct school leader and teacher interviews and meet with board directors. Skye Fernandez, a Tucson resident, said she believes the process is moving too quickly.

“I’m happy to hear the board members who are wanting to take it slow. This is not a big decision that it shouldn’t be made so quickly. The board has a responsibility to have a proactive role in this. It’s not just their job to sit back and accept everything that any administrative staff happens to tell them, so I’m just hoping to see a lot more of a corrective response from everybody involved,” Fernandez said.

Three community engagement sessions are scheduled beginning the week of Sept. 21. Decisions will not be shared with the community during these meetings, but district officials will discuss why the district needs to make these decisions.

The sessions will be held at local schools. You can learn more here.