Tucson Unified School District Board members Michael Hicks and Mark Stegeman put a halt to efforts by the district’s administration to bulldoze through school closures without adequate public and Board input at Tuesday night governing Board meeting. The district has tried to politicize the district’s failures to promote Prop 204, and rubber stamp candidates, Miguel Cuevas and Alexandre Sugiyama.
The district’s administration had tried to push through school consolidation criteria, which would be used to identify schools for closure and consolidation. The administration will now have to wait until after the November 6 election and more public input before ratifying a set of criteria.
Stegeman said that he was concerned about the circumvention of the Board which is supposed to be representing the public. “We need to slow down and respect the election process, respect the district court’s authority because school closures affect the desegregation issues, and ensure that staff’s planning does not get too far out in front of the Board, whose members are the public’s elected representatives,” said Stegeman. “The Board never adopted a set of consolidation criteria and it is important to reach conclusions about those criteria before the process goes further. There is a good chance that the Board will recommend criteria somewhat different from what staff is currently proposing.”
The set of criteria the district tried to push through was a result of the work of the administration’s carefully selected focus groups tasked with coming up solutions to the district’s phantom looming $17 million deficit.
Rich Kronberg, pro-public education advocate and co-founder of TU4SD, said, “Kudos to the three Governing Board members who refused to be stampeded by the superintendent into making decisions about closing schools…which are almost always painful and irrevocable…instead of taking the time to explore all the options available to meet the potential budget shortfall. Hopefully, this will put back the option of reducing administrative expenses to the same level as other very large Arizona districts in order to save $9 million without harming the quality of learning that goes on in TUSD classrooms. Board members Cuevas and Sugiyama validated the opinion of most informed observers that they are little more than shills for the superintendent, willing to damage neighborhoods and children in order to follow their leader’s Master Plan.”
The deficit may or may not really exist, but it is a major selling point for the administration’s effort to scare voters into passing Prop 204; a permanent 1 cent sales tax increase.
Stegeman and Hicks were joined by fellow Board member Adelita Grijalva in the 3-2 vote. The three members said they wanted more time to review the criteria and come to a consensus.
Miguel Cuevas and Alexandre Sugiyama, who wanted to proceed with Dr Pedicone’s plan, were the dissenting votes.
If the board had rubber stamped the approved the consolidation criteria, the district would have be able to proceed on what most people know is already a done deal; east side schools will be closed down and south side schools will undergo consolidation. Big box schools are centered on group projects and community organizing and are the preferred model according a district staff report delivered at a Governing Board retreat.
Cuevas defended his vote saying that he felt the board needed to make a decision so the community could be informed sooner. However, the announcement of schools rarely works the way the district intends. Instead of rally support for more money, parents flee from the unstable district and the schools rumored to be on the chopping block.
“Having attended a few of the Town hall meetings. It is clear that Dr. Pedicone has not taken to heart many of the pleadings that the district look to other areas to cut before closing as many as 30 schools,” said Governing Board candidate John Hunnicutt. “It is clear that school closure is the primary goal, it has nothing to do with closing the supposed $17,000,000 shortfall.”
Superintendent Pedicone is pushing forward with the sales tax promotion scheme, saying that “feels a sense of urgency because of the $17 million budget deficit projected for next school year.”
The districts’ administration has gone so far as to post misleading information on their website “For specific information about the affect of Proposition 204 on the future of Tucson Unified School District, review the TUSD School Master Plan scenario page. As part of the School Master Plan, six scenarios have been developed. Three address the $17 million deficit, and the other three scenarios assume the passage of Proposition 204 and no deficit.”
The Legislature has fully funded education in the next two fiscal years in anticipation that Prop 204 will not pass. As a result, schools are not facing cuts if Prop 204 does not pass. Despite this, the district has created scare tactic scenarios related to its failure.
The Governing Board is expected to vote on a final plan in December.