Tempers flared as the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board unanimously approved naming Kiva Elementary School as its next bond project.

The approval slates Kiva, 6911 E. McDonald Drive in the Town of Paradise Valley, behind Hohokam Elementary School in a list of schools undergoing renovations. During the discussion, boardmembers Jann-Michael Greenburg, Sandy Kravetz and Barbara Perleberg argued about perceived stances on the future of Kiva.

SUSD Superintendent Dr. John Kriekard said he anticipates the Kiva project to begin in the spring with community meetings, selecting an architect and conducting a feasibility study.

This selection comes after the district conducted an excess capacity study in which Dr. Ibi Haghighat, assistant superintendent of elementary education, recommended it for the next project at the board’s Sept. 17 meeting.

Kiva and Pueblo elementary schools were originally slated to officially become the next projects but a 3-2 Governing Board vote in April caused the official declaration to be put on hold.

With Kiva moving forward, Dennis Roehler, SUSD director of building services, said he hopes the planning and discussion stage of the project won’t take a year like it did with the Cherokee Elementary School project. This is in part because he believes the market will continue to get more expensive.

“We need to be aware of that and not delay too many more projects for too long because it’s just going to cost us money,” he said.

Mr. Roehler said Kiva, along with Pueblo and the 68th Street complex, aren’t fully budgeted because the board had not made an official decision yet. He did say there are rough estimates for those projects.

As a whole, Mr. Roehler said the 2016 voter-approved bond allows for $219 million for renovation projects with $129 million set for rebuilds. He said he estimates $85.23 million for schools aren’t completed and $37.38 million for ones completed.

Board President Patty Beckman gave an impassioned comment regarding the state of Kiva and how she felt it was long overdue for a rebuild. Ms. Beckman was one of the boardmembers who dissented on the previous decision to table naming Kiva an official project.

During her comments, she read off a list of perceived issues she heard from community members and why those people continue to attend the school. She also presented the tempestuous history of Kiva, which she claimed had undergone numerous discussions of what type of school it would be and what it would have to do to earn a rebuild.

“I am voting yes to rebuilding or remodeling Kiva,” Ms. Beckman said. “These families deserve a new school. I would ask my fellow board members to do the same. We need to put our students first and stop holding Kiva hostage based on our ever-changing school rebuild criteria.”

Her comments elicited applause from community members in attendance.

Heated exchanges

The conversation turned testy when Mr. Greenburg questioned board members who had been on the board since the bond’s approval. Specifically, he asked why those board members would “hold hostage” those school communities after laying out a plan for certain schools planned for a rebuild.

“We are supposed to do what’s in their (the students’) best interest and the interests of the district as a whole,” he said. “Working in and attending school every day in a building that is that old, and not fit for purpose in the modern day, that has had bad press because of the state of the buildings.”

These comments drew noticeable reactions from Ms. Kravetz and Ms. Perleberg. Mr. Greenburg continued denouncing what he saw as hesitation on several board members’ part.

In response, Ms. Kravetz said the previous board had other schools that needed attention, claiming they were in “equally as bad shape.”

“Nobody is saying Kiva doesn’t deserve to be rebuilt or isn’t in horrible shape,” Ms. Kravetz said. “I saw the tree growing through the window of the principal’s office when Nick Noonan was the principal there but you have to make decisions about what you are rebuilding.”

The two continued arguing and Mr. Greenburg claimed Ms. Perleberg wanted Kiva closed. She asked Dr. Kriekard to back her up and he said he hasn’t heard her talk of closing the school.

Once the arguments subsided at the pushing of Dr. Kriekard and Ms. Beckman to stay on topic, Ms. Perleberg continued vociferously defending herself.

“I’ve had a lot of things said about what I think or what I want said that isn’t accurate,” she said.

“Closing Kiva was never that. The reality of the Saguaro complex possibly having to see a consolidation and a change in programs is the conversation we have had to have for a very long time. And instead, over the years, we have tried to focus, with the bond, on what we knew the no-brainer builds and rebuilds were. That is all I’ve ever asked, wanted, needed for this district and I would appreciate words not being put in my mouth.”

Board Vice President Allyson Beckham said she was expecting to have a conversation on the Granite Reef Corridor and capacity in the Saguaro complex prior to voting for Kiva.

“I am going to vote for Kiva because I support rebuilding the school,” she said.

“But what I don’t support is that I believe we have asked that we discuss the Saguaro complex and the Granite Reef complex and it has not, continually, been brought up. I was going to bring that up whether or not this other discussion was brought up. I am very disappointed in that.”