Cave Creek USD recommends closing two elementary campuses; parents and staff urge alternatives

Cave Creek Unified School District officials recommended closing Desert Sun Academy and Long Mountain Elementary School, rezoning affected students and moving sixth-graders to Sonoran Trails Middle School as part of a proposal to reduce the district’s five elementary campuses to three and address declining enrollment and budget shortfalls, district staff said at a public listening session.

District administrators presented enrollment and finance data that they said underpinned the recommendation. "Enrollment equals dollars," said Frank Hendrickson, assistant superintendent for human resources. He summarized the district’s demographer findings and the facilities audit and described the committee’s work to identify options for consolidating campuses.

The finance presentation by the district chief financial officer, identified in the session as Dr. Pletnick, quantified the problem: the district’s weighted ADM for the elementary grades was 2,284 (as of Nov. 11), and the district’s base funding per pupil in the presentation was $5,013. The district’s elementary schools, the presenters said, were operating at roughly 47% average capacity; the facilities committee estimated that consolidating to three elementary sites would raise average elementary capacity to about 60%. Plentnick said the district modeled a conservative 12.5% loss of students following closures and projected roughly $700,000 (conservative) to $838,000 in annual savings from the proposed consolidations, depending on final assumptions about enrollment and operating costs.

Why it matters

Administrators told the audience that ongoing declines in birth rates and enrollment are shrinking the district’s funding and that fixed facility costs make small campuses expensive to operate. The district also cited state facility funding formulas that pay a higher percentage of repair costs for some campuses than others; the presentation listed Black Mountain and Desert Willow as covered at 100% for certain state repair funding, Horseshoe Trails at 68% and Long Mountain at 37%, figures district staff said come from the state’s school facilities program.

What parents and staff told the board

More than two dozen community members, staff and parents spoke in opposition to the recommended closure of Long Mountain Elementary. Speakers raised community disruption, class-size and staffing concerns, and the risk that families who chose the district for specialty programs would leave rather than accept rezoning.

"Closing Long Mountain Elementary will divide our students amongst four schools," said James Carrick, a long‑time community member, noting that his concern was the fragmentation of neighborhood communities rather than a single reconstituted campus. Jessica Morgan, Long Mountain registrar, provided enrollment breakdowns and told the board, "On average the Long Mountain student body makes up 49% of our students in boundaries, 40% on variance from other CCUSD schools, and 11% out of district." Morgan urged the district to consider that many families chose Long Mountain over their zoned schools and that closure could drive families away.

Teachers and staff described uncertainty about transfers and staffing. "How will this help retain qualified, experienced teachers?" asked Carrie Barron, a Long Mountain second‑grade teacher. Several teachers and parents urged moving Desert Willow’s Spanish immersion and community programs to Long Mountain instead of dispersing Long Mountain students among several other campuses.

Arguments from the administration and community data

District staff said the facilities committee considered several factors when recommending which campuses to close: current and projected enrollment, open‑enrollment patterns, specialty program replicability, geographic boundaries, and state facility funding coverage for capital repairs. Frank Hendrickson described the process the committee followed and told the audience how the district would run a notice and public forum process if the board directs a change: "There’s a statutory requirement when it comes to closing your school ... 10‑day notification to that school that there’s going to be a public forum ... and then 10 days prior to a vote." That timetable means a district decision must follow the notice and hearing windows spelled out by state requirements, district staff said.

The administration also answered detailed questions about implementation: if the board approves closures, the district plans to open a window for priority open‑enrollment requests (the district referenced a March 7 staffing cutoff for planning), to survey teachers about site and grade‑level preferences, and to allow an extended rescission window so teachers leaving because of the changes would not be penalized under the usual liquidated‑damages timelines. The district said projected maintenance and operations savings assume not all costs disappear: its model used a 70% savings factor for maintenance operations and applied consistent percentage reductions across administrative and instructional functions when estimating school‑specific savings.

Open questions and risk

Multiple speakers and several members of the public asked the district to study alternatives: closing Desert Willow instead of Long Mountain, moving Desert Sun (already discussed for years) to Horseshoe Trails, combining programs at the largest campus, exploring repurposing options for surplus sites, and pursuing community partnerships or bond/override campaigns to raise local revenue. Parents and volunteers said they had already collected signatures and survey responses that, they argued, showed local willingness to support an override or other community fundraising.

District staff acknowledged the uncertainty of some revenue assumptions tied to repurposing school property and to state capital grant programs (the district’s presentation and public comments referenced the state Building Renewal/School Facilities grant program and said existing lists of unfunded grants mean state funding is not guaranteed). The district also noted it has contracted with a facilities‑management firm to project equipment and capital replacement schedules by campus.

Next steps

The district announced two calendar items at the end of the meeting: a public forum on Monday, Jan. 13 (doors open 5:30 p.m.; comments must be submitted before 6:00 p.m.), and a governing board business meeting on Jan. 28 where administration will present a final recommendation and the board may take action. The administration emphasized the board — not staff — will make the final decision.

Quotes (selected)

Frank Hendrickson, assistant superintendent for human resources: "So tonight, we're gonna give you a very brief overview of the presentation ... we began a lot back in last March, April time to begin this exploratory research on looking at our enrollment trends and the impact of those enrollment trends on our financials."

Dr. Pletnick, district CFO (presentation): "The weighted ADM is 2,284 current ... the base level funding from state this year is $5,013."

Jessica Morgan, Long Mountain registrar: "On average the Long Mountain student body makes up 49% of our students in boundaries, 40% on variance from other CCUSD schools, and 11% out of district."

James Carrick, community member: "Closing Long Mountain Elementary School will divide our students amongst four schools."

Carrie Barron, Long Mountain second‑grade teacher: "How will this help retain qualified, experienced teachers?"

What the board will decide

No vote was taken at the listening session. Administration presented the facilities committee’s recommendation to the governing board and answered community questions. The board is scheduled to hear a final recommendation and may vote at its Jan. 28 meeting; the district said it must follow state notice and hearing timelines before any closure vote.

Ending

The district will post the presentation materials and the facilities committee’s reports on its website and proceed with the required public‑notice steps if the board requests further consideration of alternative campuses. Parents and staff who spoke at the meeting urged the board to delay any final action until the district has completed on‑site comparisons, clarified repurposing options, and spelled out staffing procedures for teachers and classified employees.