Tucson Unified School District considers closing up to 10 schools amid enrollment drop

Families across Tucson could see their neighborhood schools reconfigured, merged or closed as Tucson Unified School District responds to a prolonged enrollment decline and mounting financial pressure. District leaders are considering changes affecting between six and 10 schools over the next several years, with Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo telling reporters that the initial target is six to eight campuses. The specific schools have not been publicly identified, and the district says the process is intended to address not only immediate budget problems but also the larger question of how to attract and retain students.

TUSD, Southern Arizona’s largest school district, operates 88 schools and is projected to enroll about 35,000 students, a decline of roughly 4% from the previous year, according to Arizona Department of Education data. The enrollment decrease reduces the funding available to the district. TUSD estimates it has lost about $8 million in per pupil spending and says it must cut $25 million by 2030. District officials have described declining enrollment as the biggest factor affecting the district’s finances.

Several forces are contributing to the decline, according to Trujillo and district officials. They include falling birth rates, families moving to less expensive areas, open enrollment, competition from charter schools and the growing use of Arizona vouchers and Empowerment Scholarship Accounts by families choosing private schools or homeschooling. The end of federal COVID relief money and rising operating costs have added to the strain. TUSD was listed as one of nine Arizona school districts considered at high financial risk by the state Auditor General’s Office last spring. The district had previously received that designation in December 2020, but was removed from the most vulnerable list the following year.

The enrollment trend is not new. TUSD data shows the district had slightly more than 60,000 students in 2000 and about 48,000 by 2015. Based on state education data, 51 of the district’s 88 schools lost enrollment between the 2023 to 2024 and 2025 to 2026 school years. Booth Fickett Math and Science Magnet, Cragin Elementary and Sahuaro High School were among the campuses with the largest percentage declines during that period. Across Pima County, the six largest school districts have also experienced enrollment losses over the past five years, although Marana, Sahuarita and Vail have grown. Amphitheater Public Schools closed four elementary schools last fall.

The options under consideration do not all involve shutting down a campus. A reconfiguration could change a school’s grade levels or reduce its size, such as converting a kindergarten through eighth grade school into a kindergarten through fifth grade campus. A consolidation would merge two or more schools, combining students and resources at a single location. A closure would end a school’s operations when the district determines that it cannot continue at its current capacity and no other solution is workable. TUSD previously closed nine campuses in 2010 and 11 schools in 2012. The earlier closures remain part of the current discussion, especially because some educators and families felt the process was unclear.

To help develop recommendations, TUSD has formed a 22 member committee of community members and stakeholders. Trujillo said the group was selected to reflect a broad sphere of influence across Tucson’s communities, professions and backgrounds. Members are reviewing financial information, including each school’s operating costs, revenue and facility use. They will also consider how many students living near a campus attend their local public school, neighborhood demographics and the number of years a school has experienced declining enrollment. The district says it will use data to identify campuses facing persistent challenges rather than simply choosing school names.

Academic and support services will also be part of the review. The committee is expected to consider before and after school care, preschool, gifted and talented offerings, special education, English language learner services and emerging bilingual programs. Trujillo has said the district needs to improve the overall academic experience, its facilities and after school care to reverse the enrollment decline. TUSD is promoting programs such as mariachi and other music offerings, contacting families who have left the district and testing a community liaison program focused on attendance. It also plans to offer an expanded, tuition based exceptional education program to students from other districts.

The district’s timeline calls for public participation before a final decision. A presentation on the process was scheduled for the Governing Board’s Aug. 25 meeting, following the board’s approval of the timeline. The committee began reviewing data at a Saturday meeting, with the district saying the information would be posted online afterward, no later than the following Monday. Public meetings are scheduled for Sept. 21 at Palo Verde High School from 6 to 8:30 p.m., Sept. 23 at Cholla High School from 4 to 6:30 p.m., and Sept. 26 at Catalina High School from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The meetings are intended to gather family input and identify what the district should understand before making its shortlist.

Trujillo has said he does not plan to announce specific schools at those community meetings. Instead, he wants to speak directly with families when the shortlist is released and answer questions about the potential impact. He is expected to notify families about schools that could be affected in October, then present a proposal covering reconfigurations, consolidations or closures. The Governing Board is tentatively expected to vote on a final plan at a public meeting in December. Jim Byrne of the Tucson Educators Association, who is serving on the advisory committee, said school changes could disrupt the relationships and stability students depend on, while also expressing hope that the process can produce a useful path forward. The district has not settled how many schools will ultimately be affected, and no campus has yet been formally named.