By Howard Fischer | Daily Independent (abridged)
Arizona has too few affordable rentals. And it has too many schools.
Now Sen. John Kavanagh thinks he’s found a way to convert the two problems into a solution: Allow those schools to be sold off or leased to be made into housing for teachers and other government and critical workers.
The idea, said the Fountain Hills Republican, may sound farfetched. He acknowledged that school buildings were designed and built with a specific purpose in mind, providing classrooms, offices and bathrooms scattered throughout. But Kavanagh said there’s no reason they cannot be repurposed.
“That’s an architectural question,” Kavanagh said.
“There was a time when people said they could never do that because only the core of the building had plumbing, and all that stuff,” Kavanagh said. “They’re converting office buildings right now to residential.”
The problem starts with the declining number of children in Arizona public schools.
Some of that is a demographic change: Families are starting later and having fewer children.
But the explosion of charter schools also siphoned many children from traditional neighborhood public schools. And, more recently, there was the decision by lawmakers to make vouchers of taxpayer dollars available to any parent to send a child to private or parochial school or use the funds — an average of $7,400 a year — for home schooling.
That’s reflected in the numbers.
The most recent figures from the state Department of Education show total enrollment in traditional public schools at 868,690. That compares with 928,526 five years ago and 962,277 a decade ago.
All that has left some districts — particularly those in areas already built up — with more schools than they need. Tucson Unified School District, for example, lists 15 schools as surplus. While some are being leased to others, like the community college system or charter schools, others are listed for sale.
The Kyrene Elementary School District voted earlier this month to close two middle schools and four elementary schools.
In Gilbert, the board is set to vote in January whether to close Pioneer Elementary school.
And four elementary schools in the Amphitheater Unified School district could be closed next year due to declining enrollment.
Kavanagh said he sees no downside to his plan to schools making their unused properties available.
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Related: SB 1080 – school districts; property; housing developments