Tucson Unified School District has agreed to sell its former Julia Keen Elementary School site to a local nonprofit after a fire that pushed up the demolition timeline for structures on the property.
Flowers and Bullets Collective (F&B), which has leased the site since 2017, will purchase the property by covering the costs of demolition, said TUSD operations program manager Bryant Nodine. The property purchase price was listed at $300,000 in the agreement.
“Essentially, they will do the demolition, then we will transfer the property to them since the value of the property is essentially the same as the cost of the demolition,” Nodine said during the TUSD governing board’s Feb. 28 meeting.
The former Julia Keen Elementary School 9.7-acre site is at 3538 E. Ellington Place, near South Alvernon Way and East Silverlake Road in the Barrio Centro neighborhood.
F&B, which focuses on creating healthy communities by embracing cultural roots and by promoting art and sustainable practices, has used the land for a community garden. It had an agreement to buy the site when the organization came up with enough money for the purchase and maintenance, Nodine said.
On the night of Feb. 9, the Tucson Fire Department responded to a three-alarm fire at the former school. Nodine said the fire damages sped up the district’s timeline for demolishing the building.
“Flowers and Bullets Collective decided that it would be in the best interest for Barrio Centro and the Julia Keen community that (F&B) take on the demolition so that we have the autonomy and the say on what structures of the building will be kept,” F&B wrote in a letter Nodine read to the governing board.
Nodine added that F&B had the money available for the demolition, and had begun fundraising for the costs of renovating and maintaining the structures it wants to keep.
“When Keen closed down, it was detrimental to our community,” said F&B Cofounder Tito Romero. “That was two meals a day for our kids, that was youth sports, that was employment. It was a safe space, overall, and we want to make that a safe space again for the community.”
To learn more about Flowers and Bullets Collective, visit flowersandbullets.com.
Mission View’s 100th anniversary
Mission View Elementary School in South Tucson will celebrate its 100th anniversary this month with an evening of entertainment, food, games and a vintage car display.
The event will take place on campus, 2600 S. Eighth Ave., on Friday, March 10, from 4:45 to 9 p.m. It will also feature performances by 10 mariachi and ballet folklorico groups, including Mariachi Aztlan de Pueblo High School. The event is free to attend and open to the public.
Mission View Elementary, which opened on Jan. 4, 1923, was the first Tucson Unified School District campus to offer a bilingual education through a two-way-dual-language program, the district said in a news release.
“We proudly foster bilingualism and pride in culture and heritage,” the district wrote. “Our school also offers mariachi classes for our older students and thrives with an amazing school garden from which our students regularly plant and harvest.”
For more information on the school’s Centenario Celebration, visit www.missionview100.org.
A+ Schools of Excellence
Three Pima County schools were presented the 2023 A+ School of Excellence award by the Arizona Educational Foundation.
The local schools were Flowing Wells High School of Flowing Wells Unified School District and Senita Valley Elementary School and Vail Blended Learning, both of the Vail Unified School District.
A total of 36 schools statewide received the recognition. Schools are evaluated based on success in teaching and learning strategies, student achievement, leadership and community integration.
The A+ School of Excellence award is separate from the Arizona Department of Education’s designated letter grades, which were released last November and sort Arizona public schools into A-F grade ranges based on a set of criteria.
To view a complete list of Arizona schools that received the A+ School of Excellence award, visit azedfoundation.org.
