Amphitheater Unified confirms Copper Creek school closure, leases campus to Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind

Superintendent Todd Jaeger said the Amphitheater Unified School District will consolidate Copper Creek Elementary and three other neighborhood schools and has finalized a five‑year lease with the Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB) to occupy the Copper Creek campus.

Jaeger told the Oro Valley Town Council the district’s governing board voted unanimously on Jan. 13, 2026, to accept a recommendation to consolidate schools after a yearlong, data‑driven review. “We found ourselves operating a district that had been built to serve 19,000 students … yet currently serving closer to 11,000,” Jaeger said. He cited falling birth rates, voucher expansion and changing demographics as drivers of the district’s enrollment decline.

On Jan. 27, Jaeger said, the district approved a lease of the entire Copper Creek campus to ASDB. He described the terms as a five‑year agreement with ASDB relocating operations to the site this summer and opening during the 2026 school year. “By leasing this facility to a third party, the district will realize a $700,000 annual savings on utilities that we would have otherwise had to absorb,” Jaeger said. He added that, combined with rent, the agreement represents what he called “a positive gain of nearly $2,000,000 for the Amphitheater district budget every year.”

Jaeger emphasized the district’s goal of keeping the campus in educational use and said the lease will prevent the site from being redeveloped for high‑density housing or commercial space. “The Copper Creek campus will remain a public school,” he said. “It will not sit empty or become wasted space. It will continue to be a place where children learn, where educators work, and where families gather.”

Council members thanked Jaeger for presenting the district’s analysis and plan. Vice Mayor Barrett asked whether local property taxes would fall because of the consolidation; Jaeger replied that in Arizona school funding is driven primarily by student enrollment rather than the number of school sites. “It is the number of students attending that sets our tax rate, not the number of sites,” Jaeger said.

Councilmember Murphy asked about school resource officer (SRO) coverage, and Chief Riley said police had coordinated with the district and did not raise concerns; the town’s fire chief reported no concerns from fire department staff about the planned use. Council members expressed regret at the school’s closure while welcoming the plan to keep the facility active and in educational use.

The presentation closed after questions; no formal council action was required or taken on the district decision. The superintendent said the agreement arose from the district’s efforts to protect classroom resources amid falling enrollment and to preserve the Copper Creek neighborhood asset.