Tonight is the final hearing regarding the closure of Dunbar and Heard School. Tuesday, February 25th at 5:15 p.m. (Dunbar, 707 W. Grant St.) 

Heard is our community school. Please take the time to read a bit about the catastrophic impact that this will have on the children who attend Heard. We must be the voice for those that are scared to speak truth into the ears of the decision makers. Request that they postpone until they have hired their vacant CFO position and can meet with the community in an engaging format to come up with a proposal that works for everyone. We don’t know what their plans are for the building and land, but we do know whatever it is does not need to go into a school that is not empty and that families have expressed they need and rely on. The district keeps saying they have to come up with $2.1 million in budget shortfalls to save this school and still will need to make a $12 million dollar cuts. They are fear mongering parents into thinking preschool will be cut, but much of the free preschool programs are either paid for by desegregation funds for students at Shaw Montesorri or are funded by outside sources for children needing those resources. We don’t want preschool cut either. We just want what’s best for all children and their education. 

The rest of this is long, but here are the facts:

Heard has an enrollment of 446 — 4th highest in the district. At Heard, over 95% of students receive free or reduced lunch, 20% are unhoused, and more than 30% are English Language Learners. To put it in perspective, 73.1% of these students are Hispanic/Latino, 15.2% are Black, and only 4.6% are white. Despite having the 4th highest enrollment of 14 schools, Heard has the second lowest spending per student. Many of these kids face food insecurity and housing instability every day.

Now, a rushed proposal plans to move students to Capitol Elementary and Bethune—schools that are no longer walkable. For many Heard families, who rely on buses because they don’t have access to cars, this change is devastating. Meanwhile, parents are being threatened with ICE reports if they speak up, and teachers remain silent for fear of retaliation. Even we have become enemies of the district, and have been accused of not even living in our own home. There are many better solutions that don’t cut off these kids’ education.

If we let this happen, we risk ending the formal education for some of our neighbors. Now is the time to make our voices heard. Please write a letter to Phoenix Elementary #1 board or attend tonight’s hearing at Dunbar and demand that they table this proposal until a fair plan is made that protects all our children. Please find yourself on the right side of history. 

Speak for those who don’t have a voice and let your voice be HEARD — our community depends on it.

Please urge the district to table this until better solutions can be found that don’t negatively impact so many children. 

Hearing Information: 

Tuesday, February 25th at 5:15 p.m. (Dunbar, 707 W. Grant St.)

If you can’t attend it’s vital that you voice your opinion to the School Board by email, you can direct your message here — communityrelations@phxschools.org by 4:45 pm with the subject line Community Relations: your name address and role as community member in the subject line. They will not read your comments if you do not exactly follow this.

Thanks and hope to see a lot of you there!