Kyrene board hears KTA'Paloma consolidation plan; adopts quarterly update framework

Kyrene School District officials on June 2 presented early plans to merge Kyrene Traditional Academy (KTA) and Paloma into a single campus for the 2027-28 school year, laying out a design focused on academic rigor, flexible instructional pathways and community-building.

The KTA'Paloma transition team, led in part by Dr. Mark Eley, told the board that the process has included administrator meetings, site visits to two Chandler Traditional Academy campuses, staff and parent focus groups and a district survey that has so far drawn 103 responses. "This is our why," Eley said as he described the team's goals: preserve key program strengths, promote inclusivity and develop a clear plan parents can use when registration opens.

Presenters described two instructional identities: KTA's hybrid traditional model (Spalding phonics, AVID implementation, uniforms and structured routines) and Paloma's arts-integration approach using Kennedy Center anchor strategies. Dr. Mary Ann Lesher said KTA maintains Spalding and AVID practices and has worked to balance structure and collaborative learning. Dr. Stephanie Lake described Paloma's approach to embedding arts across core subjects and efforts to sustain professional development after earlier funding shifted.

The team reported that site visits showed risks with rigid two-track models: at a Carlson campus staff described an "us vs. them" culture and unequal class sizes when students self-select tracks. The transition team said it is exploring flexible pathways and targeted departmentalization for acceleration in some subjects rather than permanent separate tracks. "I would be cautious to have a track where you're on this track or that track because of the fact that it does create some inequities," Eley said.

Preliminary survey results showed shared priorities across both school communities: caring teachers and strong relationships ranked highest overall. Paloma families tended to rank an inclusive environment as their top priority, while KTA families placed greater emphasis on high academic expectations. The team said it will continue gathering responses through the end of the school year and use the data to inform a fall design proposal that will be presented to the board.

During board questions members pressed staff on preserving Spalding and other KTA elements for families that value them and on how the district would avoid creating uneven class sizes. Staff responded that many core curricula (CKLA, I-Ready, Discovery Education Science) will remain in place, while particular methods such as Spalding could be maintained through strands of teachers and parent preference input.

The board also considered how the district will support staff and students during transitions. Administration described a Kyrene Forward handbook issued to impacted staff with checklists for move logistics, talent-placement meetings held since January and a plan that, the district said, avoided involuntary reductions in force in this round. Lisa Gibson, assistant superintendent, said talent management placed more than 50 support staff and worked to match employees to comparable roles.

Separately, the board voted 5-0 to adopt a proposed framework for quarterly updates on the consolidations. The framework will require reporting on staffing and employee support, student enrollment and transition planning, facilities and operational readiness, school culture and any financial impacts; the administration will post a finalized version on the Kyrene Forward web page.

Next steps: the transition team plans to flesh out a design proposal with school leaders and AED and return to the board in the fall so families have a clear picture before the following year's registration period.