TUSD's Roskruge K-8 to maintain magnet status, funding

Roskruge Bilingual K-8 has been removed from a list of schools recommended to have their magnet status withdrawn.

The school was one of six at risk of losing millions in desegregation funding because it failed to diversify its student body enough to meet integration goals.

To be integrated, no race or ethnicity may exceed 70 percent of the student body.

Because Roskruge, located near the University of Arizona, offers dual language programming it was determined that it warrants funding.

Special Master Willis Hawley, charged with overseeing TUSD’s desegregation efforts, reached out to the Governing Board on Friday to share the update and to notify the board that he would not be submitting his recommendations on magnet status to the court until after the parties in the decades-old case meet in early October.

A federal judge would have to approve the recommendations before anything is finalized.

Though Hawley said he would not argue the merits of revoking magnet status from Bonillas, Cholla, Ochoa, Safford and Utterback schools, he did clarify how he came to such a decision.

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According to Hawley, each school set integration goals for this fall and for the next school year. The goals did not apply to the entire student body, but to entry grade levels only — kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades.

None of the five schools were tasked with meeting the 70 percent target this year. Rather, this year’s goals were a step toward achieving the overall objective by next fall.

Still, with goals of having Hispanic populations ranging from 72 percent to 77 percent, the five schools exceeded those targets.

Together the schools receive about $2.8 million in desegregation funds to implement specialized programming designed to attract diverse students from across the city. Roskruge receives $687,000 alone.

In addition to integration, the schools were tasked with increasing academic achievement to maintain funding.

Though it was initially argued that funding would be eliminated for schools whose magnet status was revoked, Hawley is seeking to maintain some financial support to sustain programs and to benefit students in need.