Elementary district in Phoenix, Arizona, is closing 5 schools

The Roosevelt (Arizona) School Board has voted to close down five of its schools in Phoenix as it tries to close a $5 million budget deficit.

Fox 10 Phoenix reports that the campuses targeted for shutdown are Maxine O. Bush Elementary School, C.J. Jorgensen Academy of Service Learning, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, V.H. Lassen Academy of Science and Nutrition, and John R. Davis Elementary School.

Roosevelt Superintendent Dani Portillo said that the five schools were only about half full, and that’s why she recommended closing them, AZfamily.com reports.

“Half-empty buildings still require water, air-conditioning, and maintenance at 100% of their size," Portillo said. "When our buildings are full, we can fund the programs and services that enabled our district to move from a D to a B in the past two years. Our students deserve increased resources that result in higher achievement."

The closing proposal passed 4 to 1; board member Lawrence Robinson was the sole vote in opposition.

"I feel like we're not being listened to by our electees," Robinson said. "The elected leaders are not paying attention to the most core values that we have, so maybe we're going to really have to change the institutions and the people that we elect to them."