The Phoenix Elementary School District is once again pushing to close Maie Bartlett Heard School and Paul Laurence Dunbar School, despite tabling the vote on March 4th to collaborate with the community to find solutions. The community has begged for data from the school including a breakdown and comparison of enrollment, enrollment projections, and individual actual budgets of each school and have been told that is too complicated. Others with expertise in this area have looked at the numbers provided by the district and concluded this makes no sense. Instead of engaging with concerned residents after that, the district has now added the closure vote back onto the March 25th agenda without any community input. They put this on the agenda the day after ASU prep offered $20 million to buy the land, or alternatively to cover M&O expenses pay a rent increase if the district would come to the table to renew the lease. As a result we are now at risk of closing 3 schools in ASU prep, Dunbar and Heard. Instead of engaging with concerned residents after they tabled the vote at the March 4th meeting. What are our concerns?
The closure of Heard is inequitable and disregards the needs of its students:
• Almost a third of students are English language learners
• 20% are students with disabilities
• 95%+ qualify for free or reduced lunch
• 5% are unhoused
Despite these challenges, Heard remains a performing school per the Arizona Department of Education and a vital community asset. The district has ignored alternative solutions, such as expanding Head Start programs, explore enrollment boosting programs such as dual language or start charging for preschool on a sliding scale, and has instead threatened teachers with job losses and cut programs like Pre-K, kindergarten, and sports as a scare tactic. They do this while spending $2.7 million on before/after school care when there are affordable alternative options availabale. These cuts were planned before the vote and are being used to silence opposition. The district cited that the Heard boundary has declining birth rates, however an independent review has concluded that that is false. Furthermore, Heard does not have declining enrollment and actually had the fourth highest enrollment out of 14 schools last school year. The district also cited a lack of community — clearly that is false when families and neighborhoods are pleading for the district to reconsider. We are now over 1000 signatures! School closures end up costing districts more in the long run and cause irreparable harm to the areas that are most impacted. Children from Heard School will be bussed miles from home in an urban district, much against the wishes of many parents.
While budget concerns—including $2 million lost to ESA vouchers—are real, closing Heard and Dunbar are not the solution.
The School Board will vote on Monday, March 25th, at 5:15 PM at 1817 N 7th Street. Tell the District: Vote NO on Closing Heard and Dunbar. Email CommunityRelations@PhxSchools.org by March 25th at 4:45 PM with the subject line: Community Communication.
Copy these officials:
• deborah.gonzalez@phxschools.org
• jessica.bueno@phxschools.org
• carmen.trujillo@phxschools.org
• erika.ovalle@phxschools.org
• erika.delarosa@phxschools.org
• alicia.vink@phxschools.org
Sample Email:
Subject: Community Communication
Dear Superintendent and Board Members,
The proposed closure of Heard is unjust and unnecessary, as it serves some of the district’s most vulnerable students and does not have enrollment concerns. I urge you do make hard cuts that are necessary given the current funding reality. Vote for Plan B. Stop trying to lease our neighborhood schools to the highest bidders and work with the communities to build back up enrollment, embrace different neighborhood cultures and needs and find a sustainable path forward that does not involve inequitable consolidation. Now is. It the time to give up. Now is the time to be all in.
Thank you,
Your Name
Your Address
Community Member/Parent
Show up, speak out, and demand transparency. Heard deserves better!
Lastly, please Join more than 1,000 that have signed the petition to save these two public schools and please contact key decision makers in the legislature to step up.