A second attempt within a year to shutter Thornydale Elementary School in the Marana Unified School District has parents and teachers up in arms.
βYou donβt put a price tag on my son!β Michelle Montanaro, a Thornydale teacher and parent, yelled after the Marana Governing Boardβs presentation Tuesday night about the possible closure. βYou donβt put a price tag on any of the students in this school, OK?β
But the consideration to close the northwest side school does come down to numbers, declining student enrollment specifically. Enrollment at the school has steadily fallen from over 700 students in 1994 to around 300 this year, according to MUSD Superintendent Doug Wilson.
The district predicts enrollment will continue to fall by up to 40 students over the next six years. It attributes this to the aging neighborhood surrounding the school and an increase in would-be Thornydale families sending their kids to charter schools.
Wilson said every Thornydale student costs the district around $6,500, while the average MUSD elementary student costs around $4,700. That adds up to a difference of around $550,000 β money Wilson said the district could be saving if it were operating more efficiently.
βWe have to be sure weβre making financially sound decisions with those dollars,β Wilson said during the presentation.
If the board votes to close Thornydale, a decision that will be made in the next two weeks, students could be re-assigned to either Quail Run or Butterfield elementary schools.
Thornydale could be repurposed to house the districtβs Play and Learn preschool program, health services and student services. Such a move would allow Maranaβs career and technical high school program, MCAT, to move to and expand at the district campus at 11279 W. Grier Road.
#SaveThornydale
The 70 or so parents, teachers, students and community members who filled Thornydaleβs cafeteria were upset the district judged the schoolβs worth in terms of money. Some wore #SaveThornydale shirts while others held homemade #ThornydaleStrong signs.
They canβt believe the district is again putting their kidsβ school on the chopping block.
βThe ink had barely dried on our ballots when you told us this was going up again,β said Montanaro, who has taught second grade at Thornydale for 14 years. βWhatever it is weβre spending money on, weβre not spending it right.β
Parents of children with special needs were especially concerned about the school closing. Moving schools is extremely difficult for kids with cognitive and physical disabilities, according to Lizan Mayer, whose 6-year-old son with autism attends Thornydale.
βNow, everything is calm, everything is cool, everything is collected,β she said. But it took months of head banging, body slamming flare up episodes for her son to feel comfortable going to school.
Jaqueline Stein said Thornydale helped her son, who has autism, grow in a way other schools β and even therapy β hadnβt.
βThe children here are integrated with those with special needs,β Stein said. Going to school alongside neurotypical kids who understood how to play and interact with kids who, like her son, have autism or another disability has been one of the greatest benefits.
The fact that Marana might close Thornydale makes her feel like her βspecial needs kiddo doesnβt matter.β
Parents are also frustrated the district isnβt giving the neighborhood a chance to catch up with the inevitable growth they say Marana will experience in the next few years.
βYou are prematurely looking at this decision,β community member Brian Bouffard said. βWeβre not looking at the future β youβre only looking at the past. Every inch up and down Ina is gonna be full.β
Some teachers present at the meeting said they would consider leaving MUSD if the district votes to shut down Thornydale.
βIf that happens, Iβm getting my resume and going,β said Wendy Hamm, who has taught in Arizona for over 20 years and in Marana for the last two. Hamm doesnβt want to leave the district, but she also doesnβt want to be part of the district if she canβt teach at a school she loves.
βItβs a heavy weight on everyoneβs heart,β Hamm added.
Governing Board member John Lewandowksi said he feels deeply conflicted about potentially shutting down Thornydale and doesnβt know how heβs going to vote. His two daughters attended the school, so he feels for Thornydale parents and their anxiety about the possible closure.
βMy heart is with them,β Lewandowksi said. βNow I gotta get my mind to make a decision.β
Superintendent Wilson declined to comment on the concerns parents expressed during the public hearing. Board members Suzanne Hopkins, Dan Post and board president Thom Carlson did not respond to emails for comment. Vice president Maribel Lopez was not present at the meeting.
The board will vote on Thornydaleβs fate at its Dec. 6 meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Marana Municipal Complex, 11555 W. Civic Drive.
