James S. Wood / arizona daily star

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The TUSD Governing Board voted Tuesday night to start the public process of closing four elementary schools as a way to save money.

The board voted 3-2 shortly after 11 p.m. to begin the process required to close the schools.

After a required 60-day period, the actual vote on closing the schools could come by mid-April.

Board members Bruce Burke, Joel Ireland and board President Alex Rodriguez voted in favor of beginning the closure process. Board members Judy Burns and Adelita Grijalva voted against starting the process.

Tucson Unified School District officials, facing a projected deficit of at least $15 million for the 2008-09 school year, hope to save up to $4 million by closing Rogers, Corbett, Wrightstown and Ochoa elementary schools.

"This is hard," Ireland said. "Nobody wants to close a school, but we can't sit here and hope that someone else will do the job (of closing schools). I understand we have a $16 (million) to $17 million deficit, and somewhere the school board has to step up and get that money to close in on the deficit."

Rodriguez said, "No matter what we do tonight, we are slashing and burning this district."

Several hundred parents, teachers and students from the affected schools attended the meeting, asking the board not to close their schools.

The four schools were selected based on enrollment, academic performance and each campus's capacity for growth, TUSD officials said.

Along with the proposal to close the four schools, Superintendent Roger Pfeuffer has proposed moving the Downtown Alternative High School and PACE Alternative High School.

"This is really heartbreaking, and it's hard for me to hold my emotions back," said Maria Jones, who has a son who is a second-grader at Ochoa. "Not only is the school affected, but the community is as well. I'm a strong believer in stability, and here we are throwing a curveball at my son."

Karla Ahumada, a third-grade teacher at Corbett, said the school "has taken a long time to build trust within the community."

"We are eliminating the school from the lives of people who depend on it, and this is going to destroy the neighborhood," she said.

About a dozen people spoke to the board during the call to the audience at the meeting. All asked that their schools not be closed.

Pfeuffer announced on Jan. 28 his recommendation to close the schools. The following evening, at a special Governing Board meeting attended by hundreds of outraged parents, students, teachers and staffers, the board voted 3-2 against beginning the closure process.

However, on Jan. 31, board member Ireland, who is up for re-election in November, asked for the issue to be placed on the agenda for Tuesday night's meeting.

After that meeting, Pfeuffer explained that district officials again looked at school campuses for potential closures, including Rincon and Santa Rita high schools; Naylor Middle School; and Manzo and Menlo Park elementary schools.

But relocating students from those schools to other schools wasn't possible because of capacity or transportation concerns, Pfeuffer said.

If Ochoa is closed, its students would be sent to Safford Elementary, Pfeuffer said. Students from Rogers would go to Sewell and Wheeler elementary schools. Corbett students would be sent to Erickson, Kellond and Reynolds elementary schools, and Wrightstown students would go to Bloom and Henry elementary schools.

Students enrolled in the Gifted and Talented Education Program at Corbett, 5949 E. 29th St., would be moved to Kellond, 6606 E. Lehigh Drive.

Autistic students at Rogers, 6000 E. 14th St., would be enrolled at Wheeler Elementary, 1818 S. Avenida del Sol.

In another issue, the board voted 3-2 to increase sizes of all first-grade classes in the district, as well as some kindergarten classes.

TUSD Superintendent Pfeuffer joined us for a live chat on Monday to answer readers' questions. Read a transcript at azstarnet.com/special/TUSDchat.