Amphitheater Public Schools is asking district voters to approve the sale of six properties, including four closed elementary schools, this election cycle in Proposition 426.
The Amphi governing board approved the closure of Donaldson, Nash, Holaway and Copper Creek elementary schools in January. The sale of the four schools, along with an unused plot of land and a lab that was home to the now-scrapped agriculture program, would help the district with capital expenditures, including furniture, buses or building renovations.
“The proposition just puts us in a position that should we be able to sell one of them to someone, we would be able to do that without having to wait for another election,” said Amphitheater spokesperson Michelle Valenzuela.
The district has had appraisals on the property, she said, but isn’t sure how much money the sales would actually bring in.
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“An appraisal is an appraisal, and a sale price is a sale price,” she said. “We don't really have a number to put on it.”
The sale of the four schools closed in January and other property would help the district with capital expenditures, including furniture, buses or building renovations, district officials say.
The district is currently renting out the Copper Creek campus to the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind on a five-year lease, Valenzuela said, but the contract is renewed annually.
“We're not looking to undersell it or anything like that. I think, generally speaking, the community is happy with having the school there,” she said. “It's just so that someday, if we ever need to sell it, we can without having to go back for another expensive election.”
She said if ASDB wanted to buy the campus, the district would consider it.
“The Copper Creek community around it is pleased to have it remaining as a school, so that feels like a win win,” she said. “I think it could be really good for the Copper Creek community to keep it as a school.”
ASDB officials said they are currently not able to say whether they would contemplate purchasing the property.
“ASDB is a state agency, not a school or a district like Amphitheater so the process is incredibly more complex and involves multiple phases,” public relations person Tricia Beckham said on behalf of school officials. “Currently, ASDB is in the process of conducting a study to determine what options are available for the Tucson campus on Speedway. There is not yet a completion date for this study as it will be a lengthy process and involves legislative approval.”
Campus Farm neighborhood association president Thomas Tronsdal, which neighbors Holaway Elementary School on Prince Road and Cherry Avenue, said residents he’s spoken with want the proposition to pass so the property doesn’t sit without activity.
“Everything that's left alone these days ends up having security issues,” Tronsdal said. He said most people hope it remains a type of school or is turned into housing.
“It can't be commercial because it's tucked in that residential (area) … the idea that it'd be housing makes a lot of sense,” he said.
