TUSD Sup’t advises school board to close Hudlow Elementary, moving students to Sewell

Tucson Unified School District on Monday announced that Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo recommends closing Hudlow Elementary School and moving its students to Sewell Elementary School next year.

District officials said they’ll announce one potential school closure each day this week, with Trujillo holding a press conference next Tuesday.

Trujillo proposed Hudlow students instead attend Sewell as soon as the start of the next academic year, in August 2027.
Hudlow was the first of a list of schools that would be closed at Trujillo’s suggestion, according to a Monday news release from the district.

Hudlow is located at 502 N. Caribe Ave on Tucson’s East Side, while Sewell is located at 425 N. Sahuara Ave., a few blocks west.

TUSD officials said they planned to announce a recommended “sending school” and “receiving school” each day, starting Monday, ahead of a press conference scheduled for Oct. 27.

Trujillo has worked for months with a 31-member committee comprised of community members and elected officials to assess factors such as vacant classroom space, class sizes and students access to arts instruction, physical education, preschool, transportation, special education and extracurriculars, ultimately making a list of which schools to be closed, officials said.

The TUSD Governing Board is set to vote on whether to approve or reject Trujillo’s recommendations in September, following at least two public study sessions.

He previously told the Sentinel he would recommend up to 10 school closures, with them happening. At a public meeting in September, he called the prospect of closing schools in 2027 or 2028 “a little ambitious.”

TUSD first announced it would consider reconfiguring the schools in its district in August, citing a decline in enrollment and funding limitations.

The district also held a series of public meetings, though they were not mentioned in the news release, to gather the public’s feedback on the consolidation process.
TUSD hired consulting firm De La Cruz Leadership Solutions for about $75,000 to facilitate those meetings.

Parents who attended expressed concerns about how the district would support students adjusting to new schools, student-teacher rations, retaining different programs, possible layoffs and plans for facilities that would be left empty.

Consultant Bill De la Cruz also told the Sentinel previously that school districts across the United States are also facing the prospect of school closures, and commended TUSD officials for engaging with the public through those meetings. One of those meetings found TUSD officials attempting to censor the work of Sentinel reporters, and accusing them of “misrepresenting” themselves.