By Ed Ashurst for the Arizona Daily Independent
Monday, August 14 marks the opening day of school for Apache School District 42. Under normal circumstances one would say so what? But considering the tumultuous past few months having the one-room school, 39 miles east of Douglas, open is big news.
After several years of declining enrollment and heated disagreements among area residents about solutions to the small school’s problems, Cochise County School Superintendent Jacqui Clay suspended the Apache School on June 13. Arizona revised statute 15-469 states that any district with a student count of less than eight pupils in a three month period during a school year should be shut down. The school year ended the last several years with far less than eight pupils, two to be exact. The county school superintendent cited the above-mentioned statute as a reason to close the school. That plus other reasons.
Public outcry from all factions about the closing of the school was heard all the way to Bisbee and the school superintendent’s office as well as the Cochise County Board of Supervisors. Keeping the school open was the only thing district residents could agree on. Jacqui Clay stood her ground, telling people in the district to come together and agree on some things, or she would close the school permanently.
July was a productive month. A new teacher was hired as well as a new assistant. The school bus was tuned up and made functional for the first time in over a year. A legal bus driver was hired. The teacher’s residence, located next to the school on property owned by the district, is now being renovated. Lost US forest fees, which by law should go to the district where they were collected, have been reassigned to their proper place. The school board, which has three new members, launched a successful campaign to get the district residents to enroll their children in the school. As a result, on July 31, Clay announced she was lifting the suspension she had placed on the school.
The school opened its doors on Monday with eight children enrolled and rumors of as many as nine more living in the district who are interested. Everyone is watching. A welcome calm seems to have settled in the neighborhood, and most people have their fingers crossed hoping the calm will continue.