Scottsdale Unified School District Votes to Close Copper Ridge K-8 and Laguna Prep

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to close two more school campuses as the district responds to declining enrollment and budget pressures.

The board voted to close both the Copper Ridge K-8 and Laguna Elementary campuses starting next school year and to redraw district attendance boundaries. Under the approved plan, Copper Ridge students will transition to Desert Canyon, while Laguna students will be divided among Redfield, Anasazi, and Cochise elementary schools. A K-8 merger at Desert Canyon also remains an option under the plan.

The district said it expects 41 students to leave due to the changes, along with a funding loss of $1.4 million. Altogether with the new plan, roughly 700 students will be displaced from the closed campuses.

This is the second year in a row the district has closed schools. Last school year, the district shut down Echo Canyon School and Pima Elementary, citing declining enrollment.

The vote came after weeks of public consideration and emotional community reaction. At a public hearing several weeks ago, parent Kate Russo urged the board to take more time to study the options and delay the vote.

"Some children will adjust just fine to their school closing, but I know that my daughter will not," Russo said. "This is why I, as a mom first and foremost, I'm asking you not to rush a decision this consequential."

A Redfield teacher also urged the board not to close her school, arguing that "true fiscal responsibility means protecting the assets that already work."

"Redfield works because of its people, its programs, its space, and most importantly, its heart. When you walk through our doors, you feel belonging, you feel community, you feel that children matter," the teacher said at the hearing.

Kathy Anne Cockraill, a parent of a former Laguna student and current part-time teacher, expressed disappointment with the outcome.

"They were so impassioned at the last meeting about being together and leaving Scottsdale Unified if they closed Laguna," Cockraill said. "I am a public school girl, and I have always supported, but I am so disappointed with how this has gone."

The board had weighed two other alternatives before approving the final plan. Option A would have moved Cheyenne Traditional School (K-8) to the Copper Ridge campus, with Laguna and Redfield students consolidating onto the Cheyenne campus, and a possible K-8 merger of Desert Canyon Elementary and Middle schools. Option B would have consolidated Desert Canyon Elementary and Middle schools into a single K-8 program housed at the Copper Ridge campus while closing Laguna Elementary, with the current Desert Canyon and Laguna properties repurposed.

Some board members wanted to table the motion indefinitely, but that effort ultimately failed.

The closures are expected to take effect by the end of the 2026-27 school year, and the district said it will work to support affected students and families through the transition.