Tucson Unified School District has recommended closing Steele Elementary School and sending its students to Booth-Fickett K-8.
Steele Elementary, 700 S. Sarnoff Drive, is about three miles from Booth-Fickett, 450 S. Montego Drive. The new system at Booth-Fickett would start in the 2028-29 school year.
Steele joins seven other TUSD schools recommended for closure. The rest are Hudlow, Cragin, Dunham, Collier and Cavett elementary schools and Magee and Secrist middle schools.
TUSD Headquarters, 220 West Sixth Street.
School data
Steele has an enrollment utilization rate of 35%, 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 100% classroom utilization rate, the percentage of classrooms being used of the total classrooms on campus, and a 41% capture rate for students in its area. The school, designed for 575, had 215 students in the 2024-25 school year.
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Booth-Fickett has a 22% enrollment utilization rate, 25% classroom utilization rate and 43% capture rate. In the 2024-25 school year, Booth-Fickett, designed for 1,625 students, had an enrollment of 250.
Steele history
Steele Elementary opened in 1961 for a cost of $459,165. It was named after Harold Steele, a district superintendent from 1916-18.
TUSD spent $2.6M on schools now recommended for closure
