Tucson Unified School District on Monday recommended Secrist Middle School for closure.
Students at Secrist, 3400 S Houghton Road, would be moved about five miles away to Santa Rita High School, 3951 S Pantano Rd.
The new system at Santa Rita would start in the 2028-29 school year.
“The proposal seeks to establish a middle school ‘secondary academy’ within Santa Rita High School. This recommendation includes a separate building, separate classes, separate lunch periods, and a separate daily bell schedule specifically for middle school students and does not include the ‘mixing’ of middle school aged students with high school students at Santa Rita,” said TUSD spokesperson Karla Escamilla. “Our proposal also includes that transferring of the Secrist Middle School teachers and staff over to Santa Rita to serve the middle school students in the proposed secondary academy.”
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This is the second of six proposed scenarios in which a middle school would consolidate into a high school campus. On Thursday, TUSD recommended Magee Middle School close and that its students be sent to Sabino High School.
In early 2010, TUSD officials explored the idea of consolidating Carson Middle School with Santa Rita High School into a combined seventh through 12th grade campus on the Santa Rita site.
The district faced significant pushback from parents and logistical hurdles regarding the mixing of middle and high school-aged students, and did not move forward.
TUSD Headquarters, 220 W, Sixth Street.
School data
Secrist has an enrollment utilization rate of 39%, according to district data, which refers to how many students are enrolled in a school compared to the physical capacity or design limit of that school building. It has a 69% classroom utilization rate, the percentage of classrooms that are being used of the total classrooms on campus, and a 17% capture rate for students in its area. The school, designed for 650, had 209 students in the 2024-25 school year.
Santa Rita has a 16% enrollment utilization rate, 53% classroom utilization rate and 55% capture rate. In the 2024-25 school year, Santa Rita, designed for 2,375, had 373 students.
Secrist joins five other schools recommended for closure. The rest are Hudlow, Cragin, Dunham and Collier elementary schools and Magee Middle School.
