🎓 Educational Equity in Action: Insights from TUSD's January Meeting

A deep dive into community resistance and the path towards educational justice in TUSD.

Feb 06, 2025

"If the officer directs that parents are not to be contacted because the interview is related to criminal activity of the parents/guardians, the school official shall comply with the request." - From Policy JIH (ultimately voted to be struck from the policy)
"91% of the students that were down are actually high schoolers." - TUSD Enrollment Tracker (about declining enrollment)
"We are not going to be encouraging any of our staff members... to break the law. But at the same time, we have the same expectation of any law enforcement officials that they also conduct themselves lawfully while on our campuses." - Dr. Gabriel Trujillo, on Immigration Enforcement Policy
"We have no reason to believe that our local law enforcement partners won't be communicating with us accordingly." - Dr. Trujillo, on law enforcement interactions

😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾

In January 2025, the 🌟 Tucson Unified School District Board Meeting tackled urgent issues like 💸 budget cuts hurting middle schools and the ongoing battle for 🎓 educational equity. Acknowledging the land’s 🪶 Indigenous roots, community members voiced their concerns over 🚨 immigration laws and resource disparities. As TUSD celebrates milestones like a 🎉 desegregation victory, it also recognizes the ongoing struggle for fair access to education as families engage with the school system. 🏫✊🏽

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🗝️ Takeaways

📉 Budget cuts of over 26% for middle schools, with schools like Gridley facing a staggering 36.3% reduction.
📜 Immigration policies negatively impact children, highlighting the need for reform.
⚖️ TUSD's desegregation victory marks progress but ongoing educational inequalities remain.
👥 Strategic engagement to boost enrollment and connect with families leaving the district.
🌳 Investment in school infrastructure with a $589,497 grounds maintenance contract.

TUSD Board Meeting Expose: January 28, 2025 - Resistance, Resilience, and Community Struggle

Prologue: Land, Sovereignty, and Educational Justice

In the heart of occupied Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui territories, now known as Tucson, Arizona, the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Governing Board convened on a January evening that would reveal the intricate dance of power, resistance, and hope. The meeting began with a profound act of acknowledgment by seventh-grader Fergie Penalosa Hernandez, who boldly stated:

"On behalf of the governing board of the Tucson Unified School District, I acknowledge that the schools, buildings, and facilities of the Tucson Unified School District reside on the ancestral homeland of the Tohono O'odham Nation and the federally recognized tribal land of the Pascua Yaqui tribe."

This land acknowledgment was more than ritualistic—it was a visceral reminder of the settler colonial context in which public education exists, setting a tone of critical consciousness that would reverberate through the evening's proceedings.

Call to the Audience: Voices of Resistance

The call to the audience featured two powerful interventions that laid bare the systemic challenges facing our community:

Lillian Fox: Budgetary Inequities and Institutional Failure

Fox, a persistent local watchdog, dismantled the district's budgetary narrative with surgical precision. Her presentation revealed a stark truth: while district-level departments saw budget increases of over $100 million, middle schools experienced devastating cuts.

Key revelations:

Middle schools have been cut back severely
Some schools like Gridley suffered a 36.3% budget cut
Total middle school budget reduction: 26%

Internal monologue: How can we claim educational equity when resources are systematically stripped from our most vulnerable schools?

Guadalupe Heninger: Immigration, Resistance, and Educational Justice

Heninger's comment was a thunderclap of resistance against oppressive federal policies:

"Students and children are the casualties of downturn economies, poverty, wars, social media, lack of guardrails and fact-checking, zero tolerance unconstitutional immigration policies and a lack of due process. The bill that Congress enacted does nothing to address our broken immigration system. The only ones who benefit are private prisons and a lack of due process and mass incarceration."

Major Topics and Systemic Analysis

1. Desegregation Victory and Ongoing Struggle

Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo announced a landmark victory: the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the district's release from court supervision. Key points:

Court found no intentional discrimination
Recognized district's good faith efforts
Affirmed that existing achievement gaps are not result of systematic institutional discrimination

Critical lens: While a legal victory, this doesn't negate the ongoing work of addressing educational inequities.

2. Immigration Enforcement Resistance

Dr. Trujillo outlined TUSD's stance against aggressive immigration enforcement:

Require law enforcement to present judicial warrants
Prohibit collection of immigration information
Protect students' right to education regardless of immigration status

Explicit commitment to Policy ACB, which prohibits:

Negative commentary about immigration status
Collecting immigration information for educational services

3. Enrollment and Community Engagement

The district contracted with CaissaK12 to address enrollment challenges:

Recruited 103 students back to the district
Generated $500,000 in additional revenue
Focused on understanding why families leave and stay

4. Grounds Maintenance and Infrastructure

A controversial $589,497 contract with Brightview Landscaping to manage school grounds, highlighting:

Staffing challenges in grounds department
Need for aesthetic and functional school environments
Potential for reimagining school spaces

5. K6 Initiative: Reimagining Middle School Transition

First-semester data on expanding sixth grade in 10 elementary schools showed:

Slight improvements in attendance
Marginal changes in disciplinary incidents
Potential for more holistic educational approaches

Voting Summaries and Community Implications

Key Votes Passed Unanimously:

Administrative appointments
DAEP program extension
Enrollment campaign expenditure
Grounds maintenance contract
Contract language for employees

Call to Action

Citizens, this is not just a meeting report—this is a blueprint for resistance!

Attend school board meetings
Demand transparent budgeting
Support immigrant student protections
Advocate for equitable resource allocation
Challenge systemic educational inequities