Facing a projected $33 million deficit, the Tucson Unified School District governing board approved roughly $2.7 million in budget cuts at its Feb. 24 meeting, eliminating staff positions and administrative offices while directing officials to begin exploring school consolidations.

The district was flagged by the state as one of nine with the highest financial risk. While it is not currently unable to pay its bills or near insolvency, officials said decisions made now could determine whether the district avoids receivership down the road.

The board unanimously eliminated all regional itinerant substitute teachers, saving $913,855, and voted 4-1 to shut down the Customer Support Center and cut all associated positions, saving $1,132,159, with board member Sadie Shaw opposing.

On a 3-2 vote, with Shaw and board member Jennifer Eckstrom opposing, the board eliminated the Santa Cruz Region 2 assistant superintendent office and its entire operating budget, saving $222,600, and cut the Multicultural Curriculum director, project coordinator and senior administrative assistant, merging their functions into the Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Instruction department, saving $296,235.

Finally, the board voted 4-1 to eliminate the Senior Director of Magnet Programs position, saving $129,360, with Eckstrom opposing.

The governing board also directed the Budget Advisory Committee to begin the process of exploring possible school consolidations and reconfigurations for the 2027-28 school year.

Several attendees spoke out against the centralization and reduction of attendance and registration techs, noting the importance of having someone at the entrance of the schools to greet people and build relationships with parents and students.

The board unanimously voted to keep those positions for now.

TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said the cuts stem from the state's universal voucher program, urban flight among families with school-age children seeking a lower cost of living, and a generational shift in which local families are waiting longer to have children or not having them at all.

He also noted that 47% of homeowners east of Swan Road are 55 or older, which he called "not good for the K-12 business."

"Our goal is always whenever we do have to cut any position, we try to start as far away from the classroom as possible," Trujillo said.

TUSD Chief Financial Officer Ricky Hernandez recommended $10 million in permanent budget cuts districtwide. With 90% of spending going to payroll, he warned that at some point, "people will be touched."

His projections assume no help from the state legislature, which he said has shown no willingness to intervene.

Additional recommended cuts include a 2% reduction for exceptional education, interscholastics and school safety departments, saving $785,836, and a 7% cut for all other departments, saving $2,841,279.

Risk management and utilities were spared from cuts, though Hernandez warned the district faces a 14% rate increase for power consumption, with no carveout for school districts.

Tucson Education Association President Jim Byrne addressed the governing board, highlighting the impact of the state's school voucher program on the deficit and the union's efforts to pass an override they were told would help close the gap the district is currently facing.

Voters approved a 15% maintenance and operations override in November, generating about $45 million annually for teacher pay, arts programs and student services — the district's first override in more than 25 years.

"We're going to have to have some of those hard conversations to look at how do we get leaner on things, but how do we keep people, how do we keep ratios that are better than what are thrown out there right now so the quality of our public education that we offer every single day beats those charters, beats those private voucher-based schools, that we can out-compete them because of the learning that happens here, the campus life, all the extracurriculars, all the human beings who make our schools go are better than what they've got," Byrne said.

TUSD staffer Audrey Connealy asked the board about the district's finances, saying that staff recently received $1,200 each and the superintendent got a $10,000 raise.

"And now the sky is falling," Connealy said. "Why shouldn't we ask for an independent audit? Because we know we're being put in a hole."

Trujillo said the override has helped, keeping positions like physical education and music teachers off the chopping block, but noted it was never meant to erase the deficit entirely.

He also defended the district's decision to spend surplus funds on salary increases, saying everyone involved understood at the time that the deficit would still need to be addressed.

Ian Stash is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact him at istash@arizona.edu.

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