SUSD's Pima, Echo Canyon schools will close at end of school year

By J. Graber
Mail | X: @AzNewsmedia

Pima Elementary and Echo Canyon K-8 schools will cease to exist after this school year.

The Scottsdale Unified School Board voted 3-2 during it’s Dec. 9 meeting to accept Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel’s recommendation to close and repurpose the two schools.
Board member Dr. Matthew Pittinsky voted with President Dr. Donna Lewis and Vice

President Mike Sharkey in favor of closing the schools while board members Carine Werner and Amy Carney voted against it.

It was a night of anger, recrimination and tears for people on both sides of the issue.

“It didn’t have to be this way,” Carney said, her voice shaking with emotion during the Pima vote. “I am very disappointed of where we are right now. I’m very disappointed we didn’t even try for Pima. They didn’t even get the opportunity to have a growth plan like was given to other schools. In my review of district spending, I’ve identified what I believe are serious opportunities for cost savings. I’ve been saying it from the dais. I am finishing up my third year and I’ve been constantly talking about places where we can save money and I’m unheard. Things don’t change.

“Just this week I’ve been looking at the communications and marketing expenditures from last year alone and found $400,000 of wasted spending on coins, on T-shirts, on back-to-school rallies,” she continued. “There are a lot of areas that need to be cut and should have been looked into before we are forced to vote on the closure of Pima Elementary.”

Dr. Menzel made his recommendation in light of the fact that district is facing an $8 million short fall next year and he estimates closing the two schools would generate a cost savings of about $2 million.

Pima and Echo Canyon were chosen for the first round of closures because both slipped under 300 students each this year.

In fact, the district has lost slightly more than 6,000 students in the last 15 years and Dr. Menzel has argued it is time to right size the district’s footprint.

“There is not a superintendent who wants to close a single school, that is not what we get in this job for, but we do have an obligation to look at the facts, the data, with respect to enrollment trends, building capacity and budget constraints and make recommendations that are fiscally conservative and responsible uses of taxpayers’ resources,” Dr. Menzel said.

That did little to assuage the crowd’s anger and distrust of Dr. Menzel. They called for his termination, a forensic audit of the district’s budget, selling land and more and better marketing efforts to attract students.

State Rep. Matt Gress, R-Scottsdale, who is chairman of the House Education Committee and co-chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, sent a letter to the board members earlier in the day urging them to delay a vote until “a more comprehensive, community-informed plan is developed. The long-term gains to the district could be significant if this process is approached with deliberation rather than sticking with this undeveloped and rash plan.

“Every school closure creates turmoil in the community, and these would be no exception. But with intentional planning and clear communication, the district can convert this challenge into an opportunity for students, families, and educators.”

Kathy-Brie Tompkins, who spoke during the public comment section of the meeting, said afterwards that she feels betrayed by Dr. Pittinsky, Dr. Lewis and Sharkey.

“I am so angry at the three board members who voted yes because they ran their campaigns specifically on not closing schools,” Tompkins said. “So they got elected into positions of power and did a complete 180.”

Closing the schools leaves families scrambling for solutions, said Tompkins, who has a fourth grader at Pima.

“The first thing I’m going to have to do is break the news to her,” Tompkins said crying. “That is going to be the hardest part.”

She already has a middle school student in a charter school and is not sure if she will keep her younger daughter in Scottsdale Unified School District after this.
“SUSD may have none of my kids now,” Tompkins said.

But the regret wasn’t only reserved for those pushing to keep the schools open.

“It is with a grieving heart for the circumstances and a moral sense of fiduciary accountability that I vote to support this action,” Dr. Lewis said with a shaky voice.

Dr. Pittinsky said he could not support putting the vote off.

“Delaying hard decisions is partly how we got here,” he said.

Dr. Menzel said he has a plan in place to deliver a “concierge level service” to help families and students to take the next step.

What will become of the school buildings is less clear though.

Dr. Menzel brought Jason Rose, with Rose Allyn PR, to the Nov. 9 board meeting to talk about possibly turning Echo Canyon into an arts magnate. However, Dr. Menzel has stressed that is merely one possibility and is not a plan.

The district recently spent $18.1 million of bond money to rebuild Pima, which reopened in 2018.

And more schools could be closed under phase II of Dr. Menzel’s recommendation. Those schools all have enrollments under 400 students and are Anasazi Elementary, Copper Ridge K-8, Laguna Elementary, Redfield Elementary, Tonalea Middle School and Yavapai Elementary.

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J. Graber
News Editor | Scottsdale

jgraber@iniusa.org

 Meet J.

Graber joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in February 2023, starting his career as a staff writer covering the City of Scottsdale and was named news editor of the Scottsdale Independent in 2024.

Community: He serves on the altar guild as well as being an usher at St. Mathews Episcopal Church in Chandler.  

Education: He earned his BA in creative writing with a minor in journalism from the University of Arizona. He then earned an MS in Mass Communications from the University of Oregon.

Random Fact: He enjoys reading novels by Russian authors.

Hobbies: Playing classical guitar, reading, fishing, going to the gym, watching sports and spending time with his family.