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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Parents and students at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind said goodbye to the historic Tucson campus as the school held its last day of classes on Thursday, May 21.
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The school announced in February that it would move to the old Copper Creek Elementary campus in Oro Valley.
The closure marks the end of more than 100 years of service to differently-abled students at the Tucson location near Speedway and Interstate 10.
Beata Tarasiuk said her daughter, Kasia, thrived during her first year at ASDB. Kasia is blind and non-verbal.
“Those educators, the staff, the teachers, the supporting staff have been just miracle workers for her,” Tarasiuk said.
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The restructuring of the blind school means Kasia will return to a public school in the Tucson Unified School District, where she will receive services through cluster sites. Tarasiuk said she is worried Kasia may not get the same quality of education.
“This is the only school in the state for blind children, and not to have this around in 2026 is just unbelievable,” Tarasiuk said.
High school junior Monroe Stockton previously attended a TUSD school, and this year was her first at ASDB.
She said she felt supported with her visual impairment.
Stockton said she is worried about whether she will get the best accommodations for her visual impairment after ASDB. Stockton spoke to 13 News before playing the drums at the school’s last celebration in Tucson.
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Despite her heartbreak, she said she tried her best to have a good day.
“It’s sad, but I’m not going to let the school closing down stop me from having a good last day,” Stockton said.
Stockton made the honor roll in her first year at ASDB. Her mother, Lyza Ahumada, said she is concerned for her daughter’s education now.
“We don’t know where we’re going to put her, but it’s like, what’s going to happen? Is she going to lose all that progress? So, it’s very frustrating,” Ahumada said.
Elizabeth Smith, a mother to three deaf children attending ASDB, described the campus closure as a huge loss to the blind and deaf community.
“Just having that safe space where we could just be and not worry about what other people view us, and we thrive in that kind of community, so to take that away from us, what are people doing?” Smith said.
ASDB’s relocation to Copper Creek will happen throughout the summer. The school is set to start its fall 2026 semester at the new campus.
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