The Pascua Yaqui Tribe was given the green light Tuesday to lease the closed Richey Elementary School campus from TUSD.
The tribe has been negotiating with the Tucson Unified School District for about a year to use the space as a community center for health, wellness, adult education and recreational functions. The tribe also is considering having a preschool on the campus.
Under the multiyear lease, the tribe will pay $1 a year in rent. It will also be responsible for all routine maintenance, security, insurance and utilities.
Because the site has been empty for more than a year, TUSD has agreed to replace windows that have been broken by vandals.
Though the rent is low, the deal, which received unanimous approval, is expected to reduce TUSD maintenance and operations expenditures by $40,000 to $60,000.
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An added benefit for TUSD is the tribe has agreed to reserve 50 percent of the site for the district's future use.
TUSD is considering using space at Richey to house a program focused on health training.
The TUSD Governing Board approved the closure of Richey, 2209 N. 15th Ave., in 2010 as a cost-saving measure, but the move was not supported by the tribe because the school primarily catered to Pascua Yaqui families.
At the time, the tribe - which has provided financial support to Tucson-area schoolchildren - said the board's decision would likely impact its relationship with TUSD.
Shortly thereafter, the Governing Board directed the district to work with the tribe to repurpose the building rather than allowing the public to submit offers to buy or lease it.
13 acres of BLM land
In addition to leasing the Richey site, TUSD took a step toward acquiring 13 acres of Bureau of Land Management property next to Hohokam Middle School, enabling the district to expand the campus should it choose to do so.
The separate proposal between the Pascua Yaquis and TUSD was also discussed Tuesday.
In return for the property next to Hohokam Middle School, the tribe would acquire 50 acres of land that TUSD has the rights to.
The land the tribe is interested in includes 10 acres just south of Casino de Sol, and 40 acres on Camino de Oeste near Hohokam.
The tribe plans to use the lands for a portion of a golf course and for recreation and flood control.
Federal approval is required to complete the deal.
The rights to the two parcels were granted to TUSD for educational uses - specifically for an elementary school on the smaller parcel in 1981 and a high school on the larger property in 1962.
However, TUSD does not have plans to use either one, said TUSD Planning Services Program Manager Bryant Nodine.
Though the trade may not seem equitable - giving 50 acres to receive 13 - it is beneficial to TUSD.
Site for a bus facility
"The parcels in questions are either in flood plains or are in unusable territory," TUSD Superintendent John Pedicone said. "Really we're suggesting this agreement be made to get land that we believe will be beneficial to the district in exchange for land that we do not believe can be developed."
In addition to acquiring the 13-acre property, the tribe has offered TUSD a site for a west-side transportation facility at a lease rate of $1 per year.
Providing a west-side transportation facility would improve services to students in the southwest region by placing buses where they can be used more quickly to respond to route change requests, breakdowns and other emergency bus dispatches, according to TUSD.
Additionally, a west-side facility would reduce annual school bus miles traveled by 490,000 miles.
TUSD is still evaluating a number of sites for the transportation facility.
TUSD Board President Mark Stegeman was the only member opposed to the land transaction, calling it "premature."
On StarNet: Find more education and TUSD news and resources at azstarnet.com/news/local/education
Contact reporter Alexis Huicochea at ahuicochea@azstarnet.com or 573-4175.
