New Interactive Map Lays Out School-by-School Data as TUSD Weighs Closures

Families across the Tucson Unified School District are facing growing uncertainty over possible school closures and consolidations. To help them make sense of what is on the table, KOLD News 13 has built an interactive tool that gathers key district data on each campus in one place.

The effort follows an Arizona Auditor General report that warned TUSD faces "high financial risk." In response, the district has begun discussing whether to consolidate under-enrolled facilities as a way to reduce operating and transportation costs.

News 13's Valerie Cavazos discussed the project with Devyn Shea on Tucson Now. Cavazos explained that the underlying figures came from district records but had been spread out and hard for families to interpret. The new map brings them together.

For every campus, the map shows facility condition ratings, state letter grades, academic proficiency percentages and building design capacity. It also includes what are known as neighborhood "capture rates," which indicate the share of children in an area who attend their assigned boundary school rather than a charter school or an open-enrollment option elsewhere.

Cavazos used examples of proposals under consideration to show the trade-offs involved. Dunham Elementary, which carries an "A" rating, is operating at roughly 41% enrollment and is being weighed for consolidation into nearby Marshall Elementary. Marshall is a growing "B"-rated school with enough room to take on additional students.

Other possible pairings include Hudlow Elementary with Sewell Elementary. High schools such as Santa Rita, which face steep enrollment declines and costly operating deficits, are also part of the conversation. According to Cavazos, these cases show how geography, program needs and building upkeep all factor into the district's deliberations.

District advisory committees have explored recommending that six to 10 campuses be closed or consolidated. Any official policy changes, however, would require formal approval from the TUSD governing board.

Parents can use the interactive map to search individual school profiles. News 13 has also posted the full on-air segment in a video player alongside the original report.