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Parents, staff urge board not to close or sell neighborhood schools; one parent describes alleged assault and lack of follow-up
Summary
Multiple parents and community members addressed the Phoenix Elementary governing board during public comment on May 8, urging transparency on possible school closures and opposing sale or lease of neighborhood schools; a parent and district staffer described a violent incident at Whittier and said district response was inadequate.
Several parents and employees urged the Phoenix Elementary District governing board at its May 8 meeting to halt plans that could lead to selling or closing neighborhood schools, and to provide more transparent, earlier engagement with impacted communities.
Jennifer Pauley, a nurse and parent in the district, said she was alarmed that a district resolution discussed at the meeting could lead to more school closures and possible sale of property. Citing state audit data, Pauley said she was concerned about administrative spending and the district’s transparency with parents. She directed board members to research showing school closures can have long-term negative effects on academic and neighborhood outcomes.
Multiple parents submitted electronic comments and urged the board not to place Emerson Elementary on the November ballot for potential sale or lease. Written commenters described Emerson as a community hub, cited strong after-school programming and said selling or leasing the site would damage neighborhood cohesion and student supports.
During in-person public comment, a parent who identified herself as a special education teacher at a nearby school described an incident in which her sixth-grade daughter was assaulted in class by an older student. The parent said the district responded by suspending the victim and that she filed a formal bullying complaint on Jan. 6, 2025; she said she received little follow-up and that her family had sought ongoing mental-health services and ultimately withdrew the child from the district. The parent called for clearer, more supportive responses to victims and said the district’s response contradicted its own code of conduct.
Board members acknowledged the comments and asked staff to follow up individually with speakers and to bring updates to the board. The governing board’s discussion on property-authority items that followed included repeated requests from some board members for more community engagement before taking property actions to the ballot.
What happens next: Several parents requested more public outreach and concrete explanations about where students and staff would be sent if a sale or lease were approved. The board directed staff to follow up on individual complaints and to report back on community engagement and enrollment updates at future meetings.
