Scottsdale district will close 2 schools, adding to Valley school closures
Oct. 28
Earlier this month, the Scottsdale Unified School District board voted to shut down two additional schools after the 2026-27 school year.
Both Copper Ridge and Laguna Elementary schools will close their doors, following last year’s closures of Pima Elementary and Echo Canyon schools. All four schools are a part of the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD).
The district’s superintendent, Scott Menzel put out a statement on the district website in response to the most recent closures.
“Scottsdale Unified School District, like many districts across the valley, continues to face challenges from rising costs, declining enrollment, increased competition, and increased cost of living in Scottsdale,” Menzel said in a statement.
During an Oct.6 SUSD Governing Board meeting, parents spoke out against the closures. Some parents asked the board to grant more time before deciding to shut down the campuses. Other parents voiced concerns that all options had not been considered before closing the schools.
SUSD parent Nicole Kerry was one of the parents who spoke out against the closures during the meeting and said leaders could not guarantee closing the schools would help save the district money.
“The district has not jumped over the very low bar of convincing us that they could make the merger work, let alone convincing us that this merger is in the best interest of our students,” Kerry said. “At the heart of their argument is not our kids, but a dollar amount. $369,000,” she added.
Why are Scottsdale district schools closing?
SUSD governing board member Matthew Pittinsky said there were a variety of factors that contributed to the closures of the two schools, which he laid out during the meeting.
He said deciding to close the two campuses was a difficult decision but it was in the best interest of the 19,000 students the district serves.
SUSD enrollment has fallen by 26% since 2010 and the district receives less in per-student spending than it did in 2020. SUSD also has fewer kindergarten students enrolling into school due to declining birth rates across the state, he said.
“Fewer kids means fewer schools, when you dip below a certain threshold,” Pittinsky said.
“Over the last decade or two, the state legislature has focused on a massive expansion in competition to our public schools. It’s done this through $1 billion in voucher funding to leave public schools and through other legislation,” he said.
The Empowerment Scholarship Account program allows families to use public tax dollars to cover the cost of homeschool and private school education. The ESA program has been plagued with controversy due to widespread reports finding millions of dollars in misspending. ESA funds have reportedly been used to pay for diamond rings, iPhones, baby sitting fees and even lingerie.
Pettinsky said SUSD has been “ground zero” in competing for students in the ESA voucher program. He also added that the district had been targeted more than any other school district across the state.
Since 2024, approximately 30 Valley schools have closed their doors due to declining enrollment – a result of factors such as the ESA voucher program and declining birth rates.
“What I don’t understand is being surprised and even outraged when families take the money, causing districts to lose enrollment funds, and it then falls on public school boards, including members who actually oppose vouchers and these policies to actually do the work of closing the schools because there are now fewer students,” Pittinsky said.
Reporting by “Arizona Horizon” Education Solutions Reporter Roxanne De La Rosa. Her role is made possible through grant funding from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund and Report for America.
