NEWS
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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | AUGUST 14, 2019
TEMPE UNION from page 1
to the recession.” “Following a small increase in 201011,” the study stated, “it has continued to decline, falling by another 850 students due to aging and increased competition from charter schools.” Following a slight bump in 2013-14, it added, in-district student enrollment “has declined by 500 students since then” to about 11,000. Further exacerbating the in-district enrollment picture is a surprising decline in the birthrate. “We were actually expecting, as the economy recovered… that we would see people having a few more kids again. And that really isn’t what we’ve seen,” Brammer told the board, adding: “So even though we’re having population growth because we’re having people moving into the Phoenix area, this is still going to hold us back in terms of what school enrollment growth is going to be, particularly at the elementary level in this district.” For a good bit of the past decade, the study indicated, Tempe Union could depend on its total enrollment being bolstered by students who live outside its boundaries.
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This scene from a video on Tempe Union High School District’s website uses scenes of real students and future ads will do the same. The advertising stresses happy, active students and follows a marketing approach used by many charter schools in their ads. (Tempe Union)
Out-of-district enrollment peaked at about 2,800 in 2017-18. But this year, the study said, “out-ofdistrict enrollment declined significantly…fueled by 134 fewer students from Phoenix Union and 47 fewer students from Maricopa Unified. As of last April, total Tempe Union enrollment was just under 13,664 students with about 2,800 — or 20 percent of the total — coming from outside district boundaries.
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Desert Vista’s 2,669 students last April made that school the largest of Tempe Union’s seven campuses, with Mountain Pointe and Corona tied for second place at 1,888 students. Brammer said that for a while, Maricopa parents sent their children to Tempe union — as well as Kyrene — because their school district was relatively new and had fewer programs. But in recent years, he added, “people are getting more adapted to those
schools” and enrollment from that city has declined. One factor that cushions the impact of the decline in Maricopa residents’ enrollment, he added, is that there are not many good-paying jobs in that Maricopa area. Consequently, many parents work in Phoenix and find it easier to drop their kids off at a Tempe Union school. More concerning, Brammer said, is the current housing market. Together with an aging population, the lack of affordable housing has slowed the influx of young families with school-aged children. During the recession, he said “nobody wanted to sell their house because it wasn’t worth what they thought it was.” “Now we’re living longer and staying in their homes longer,” Brammer explained. “And the values have gone up to such extent that a lot of people can’t get a better house. So, it’s slowing down that rate of turnover.” Added to that is the trend toward multifamily development in the district. Most newer apartment complexes are aimed at higher-income renters, discouraging families. “Most multifamily projects in the district are not targeted to — or
see TEMPE UNION page 7
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