By Jeanne Beasley Elections have consequences. This week, Scottsdale families saw just how significant those consequences can be when the Governing Board voted 3-2 to close two more neighborhood schools. Copper Ridge and Laguna will join Pima and Echo Canyon as schools our community is losing. Four schools in less than a year. Behind every closure are students, teachers, families, … Read More
Vouchers Aren’t Going Anywhere. Scottsdale Unified Has to Compete or Keep Shrinking
by Ronald Sampson Scottsdale Unified’s governing board voted 3-2 Tuesday to close Copper Ridge K-8 and Laguna Prep. Roughly 900 students will change schools. It is the district’s second round of closures in as many years, after Pima Elementary and Echo Canyon shut down earlier this year. As we wrote just days before the vote, the district keeps losing families … Read More
Scottsdale Unified Keeps Losing Students, Then Asks Taxpayers for $375 Million
By Ronald Sampson Scottsdale Unified’s board votes Tuesday on closing more schools. Days earlier, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office found the district violated the open meeting law while drawing up the options. Four weeks later, voters will decide whether to hand the same district $375 million through a bond. A Decade of Losing The enrollment trend is not subtle. According … Read More
Apache Junction Figured It Out. Why Can’t Scottsdale Unified?
By Ronald Sampson Nobody expected Apache Junction to teach Scottsdale a lesson in public education yet here we are. While Scottsdale Unified debates which neighborhood schools to close, Apache Junction Unified has quietly done something clever: it stopped treating families who use Empowerment Scholarship Accounts as a lost cause. Instead, it started treating them as customers. What Apache Junction Built … Read More
When Your District’s Art Director Makes Headlines for All the Wrong Reasons
By Alexander Lomax There’s a unique kind of embarrassment that comes with being a Scottsdale resident when your school district makes national news—and it’s not for academic excellence. Victor Michael Bobbett, Scottsdale Unified’s art director since 2018, was arrested in late January for allegedly attempting to smuggle four people into the U.S. for $12,000. According to federal court documents, he … Read More
Where There’s Smoke: One Pervert at SUSD Ends Up Being Multiple. Is This a Real Problem?
In what now seems to be a recurring theme, Scottsdale Unified School District faces another troubling chapter in its ongoing struggles with employee misconduct. In just the past three months, three district employees have lost their positions over allegations of inappropriate behavior involving minors. This isn’t merely another bureaucratic misstep; it’s a pattern that demands serious attention from parents and … Read More
Chaparral’s Future Ready Conference Showcases Scottsdale Schools’ Commitment to Excellence
When 480 Career and Technical Education students gathered at Chaparral High School for the 2025 Future Ready Conference, they weren’t just attending another school event: they were experiencing the kind of transformative educational opportunity that defines excellence in Scottsdale Unified School District. The full-day conference, presented by SUSD’s CTE department in partnership with Scottsdale Rotary, brought students face-to-face with real-world … Read More
SUSD Assistant Principal Scandal: What Can You Do to Protect Your Children?
The resignation of Saguaro High School Athletic Director Lucas Ackerson following allegations of inappropriate messaging with a middle school student has sent shockwaves through the Scottsdale community. While Scottsdale police determined there wasn’t sufficient evidence for criminal charges, the incident represents a deeply troubling breach of trust that every parent must take seriously. The student’s father, speaking at the school board meeting, … Read More
Concerns About Transparency at SUSD with Latest Vote: Are They Warranted?
By Ronald Sampson The Scottsdale Unified School District’s 3-2 vote to close Pima Elementary and Echo Canyon School has left the community deeply divided, and the emotional public meeting that preceded it raised important questions about process and transparency. While the district faces legitimate fiscal pressures, the concerns voiced by board members Carine Werner and Amy Carney, both of whom voted against … Read More
When Results Speak Louder Than Politics: SUSD’s Academic Success Story
By Alexander Lomax Scottsdale Unified School District has found itself under intense scrutiny lately, particularly from Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. But when the latest state test scores arrived, the numbers told a story that’s hard to dispute: SUSD students are thriving academically. With 62% of students passing English Language Arts assessments and 58% passing math across grades … Read More