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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – An analysis of Tucson Unified School District enrollment and spending records found sharp declines at some schools and wide differences in per-student spending, as the district considers closures and consolidations.
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13 News Chief Investigative Reporter Valerie Cavazos spent weeks gathering and analyzing the data for a report, part of an ongoing series called “Last Bell.” Cavazos said she wanted to give families a snapshot of schools across the district, but said getting the information was not easy.
TUSD directed Cavazos to its website when she asked for reports and data, which she described as hundreds of pages without a clear roadmap. So 13 News created a school-by-school interactive map, which can be seen at the top of this story.
Board member says information is hard to find
TUSD board member Val Romero, who has served on the board for 3 1/2 years, said he has experienced the same difficulty.
“I’ve been given that many times before, and I even got quoted, I think, on one of the board meetings, like, I know it’s here, but I cannot find it. Can you help me navigate to find where this information is?” Romero said.
Pima County School Superintendent Dustin Williams said that once the data is found, making sense of it can be just as difficult. TUSD has its own maps, which Cavazos described as static and packed with information.
“It’s really tough for even industry professionals. I mean, I do trust in our public here in Pima County understanding things, but it has to be in a really transparent, understandable way,” Williams said.
Romero said the information exists but requires effort to access.
“We have the information, you just have to do all the homework to get to it,” Romero said.
LAST BELL SERIES
Enrollment declines concentrated on east side
Cavazos’s analysis started with enrollment — the center of the closure debate.
Enrollment at Booth-Fickett has dropped nearly 66% since 2018. Safford K-8 and Magee Middle School have each lost more than half their students, according to the analysis.
When enrollment was mapped across the district, Cavazos said many eastside schools are struggling to retain students.
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“The east side is concerning under your heat map that we saw,” Williams said.
Romero responded to the enrollment map.
“If I’m not coming to this as a board member, I would say these eastside schools are — why is nobody going to our eastside schools? You know, most everything is kind of going here central and west over here,” Romero said.
Williams said enrollment is not the only factor in the closure discussion.
“It’s a Rubik’s Cube, and it has a lot of different sides to it. And so enrollment is definitely the leading contender for the discussion, but not solely the only contender,” Williams said.
Per-student spending varies widely
Cavazos’s analysis also examined school-site spending per student. At Booth-Fickett, per-student spending is nearly 50% above the average for comparable schools. Lawrence and Santa Rita schools are more than 50% above that average. Collier is 78% above the average.
“That we’re spending a lot of money on all their students. You know, again, just looking it this way, but for what reason?” Romero said.
Cavazos asked whether spending alone would put Collier on a closure list.
“Not necessarily. A lot has to work with programs that they have to offer, that the strengths of the school itself,” Romero said.
Romero said the combined data gives the public a starting point.
“This gives you, like I said, a snapshot of the overview, again, without going into all the details, but it is a very helpful tool,” Romero said.
District responds
Cavazos reached out to TUSD about the difficulty of obtaining school-level data. The district said gathering the information is a complex task and said it is continuing to work to make the information as accessible as possible.
Tucson USD’s full statement is below.
“We are continuously working to make this information as accessible as possible for our families, board members, and the community. Following the Governing Board meeting on October 27, additional documents with the data will be released, and we look forward to continuing to share the information for both the Board and the public.”
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