All nine of the major Tucson-area school districts have decided to close Thursday due to the statewide teacher strike.
Tucson's largest school district, TUSD will serve breakfast and lunch on Thursday, the first day of the walkout, but there will be no classes.
Tucson Unified Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said district leaders will meet Wednesday morning to decide if the district closing will be extended beyond Thursday.
He said plans will change for TUSD if the walkout lasts several days.
TUSD said it expects some 2,000 teachers in the district to participate in the walkout.
The Sunnyside Unified School District also followed suit, posting on its website that all schools will be closed Thursday and Friday.
The district said it didn't expect the walkout to extend into Monday, and that the district would post new information later on how long schools will be closed.
Bus transportation to schools has been cancelled, but school cafeterias will be open for breakfast and lunch those two days. Parents can take their children to any Sunnyside school for the meals, but parents must remain with their children.
All elementary and middle school after-school programs and athletic activities are cancelled Thursday and Friday. Information regarding scheduled high school athletics and other after school events will be communicated by coaches and school staff to the high school students, the Sunnyside message said.
Read the update here.
Other districts
Tanque Verde School District said it does not have appropriate staff to sufficiently supervise students, or to provide a high quality instructional school day. All of its campuses will be closed on Thursday and Friday.
Inadequate staffing forced the Vail School District to make the decision to close its doors on Thursday and Friday as well.
Amphitheater School District is closing its 21 schools on Thursday and Friday. The district plans to offer "grab & go" breakfast and lunch meals for students at each campus.
"With several hundred staff members advising us of their intentions, we will not have adequate staff present to ensure student safety on our campuses,” said Superintendent Todd Jaeger.
Flowing Wells School District announced Tuesday afternoon its plans to close on Thursday and most likely on Friday.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided at each Flowing Wells elementary school. Any student in the district can attend any elementary school for breakfast between 7:30 and 8:15 a.m. and lunch between 11:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Earlier Tuesday Catalina Foothills announced it planned to close during the duration of the statewide teacher walkout.
In a memo Tuesday morning to staffers, Superintendent Mary Kamerzell said the district planned to add days at the end of the school year to reach the state mandate for instructional days.
"It is clear that we cannot provide a viable instructional school day for our students during the walkout," her memo reads.
Marana Unified School District announced Monday evening that all 18 of its schools — from preschool through high school — will be closed Thursday, April 26, during the statewide teachers' walkout organized by the #RedForEd movement.
Sahuarita Unified School District also will close all its schools on both Thursday and Friday, as more than half of its teachers told district officials they plan to take part in the strike.
Marana officials, as well, said their decision is based on information that "a majority of our school based educators and staff plan to participate in the statewide walkout this Thursday," meaning "we cannot appropriately supervise students and ensure student safety."
"At this time, we do not know how long schools will be closed but will provide daily updates," said Marana Unified's news release. "All official District information will be shared at www.maranausd.org. Parents will continue to receive updates via email, phone call, and social media."
In the region
All schools in the Sierra Vista Unified School District will be closed beginning Thursday and will remain closed until the statewide walkout ends, the district announced Tuesday morning.
The only exception is Roadrunner Preschool, at Town & Country Elementary School, which will be open with normal operating hours during the closure for enrolled Roadrunner preschoolers.
