The Tucson Unified School District acting “in urgency” according to Superintendent John Pedicone held a emergency study session this afternoon to address closing more schools due to a dramatic decrease in enrollment. Earlier, in a noon time interview, Board President Mark Stegeman said the district was in a crisis. Despite this, the district’s superintendent called the meeting to discuss the possibility of putting a bond measure before the voters.
The district has not been able to win a bond measure since 2004. The current debt on that bond stands at $300 million. Dr. Mark Stegeman, an MIT PhD. said of the proposal, “In my opinion, a TUSD facilities bond would have almost no chance of passing in 2013; and in an odd-numbered year it would be expensive to put on the ballot.
Appearing on the Buckmaster radio show on KVOI 1030 AM, Stegeman told listeners that 1 in 3 of the district’s schools received a “D” rating from the state. Eight, or 9 percent, of the district’s schools received an “A.” A grade of “F” is not possible.
The district’s Chief of Operations, Candy Egbert, told the Governing Board members of their options. The most likely scenario selected will include packing more kids into fewer schools while maintaining the same level of central administration personnel.
They propose to eliminate all schools east of Alvernon Road, and tearing down existing schools which will be replaced with larger schools. They will eliminate the one enrollment retainer they have; neighborhood schools.
Governing Board member Michael Hicks could not contain his displeasure with the superintendent and his “Master Plan.” He told Pedicone and his fellow Board members that he, as a teacher is committed to teaching, because of that he can teach anywhere. He said that many of the best charter schools do not have the good quality facilities that TUSD has, yet they are successfully teaching students.
Pedicone suggested that the district was not losing students because the schools were failing but because of the actions of the Board. One observer noted that Pedicone should have been fired on the spot for insubordination. “I have never seen anything like it. He has squandered hundreds of thousands of dollars on administrators to do his job, and he complains about a Board that has given him very vote he wanted? He should be fired immediately.”
The urgency for meeting came about due to Pedicone’s trip to Korea. Pedicone will offer his expertise on education to members of a nation that ranks 7th in the world for cost efficiency and student performance. One long time district insider said of Pedicone’s trip, “Maybe they are so successful that they don’t have any experience in closing schools… and need a little advice?”