Florence Unified School District is weighing two school closure recommendations, and four of the five schools named in either one serve San Tan Valley families.

The district's school closure committee has met since March. It is now presenting two recommendations to the district's Budgetary Steering Committee, according to a community email FUSD sent to families. Each recommendation names five schools.

Four schools are on both lists:

• San Tan Heights Elementary
• Copper Basin Elementary
• Florence Middle School
• San Tan Mountain Middle School

The fifth school is the only difference between the two:

• Recommendation 1 adds Circle Cross Ranch Elementary
• Recommendation 2 adds Skyline Ranch Elementary

Three of the four schools on both lists are San Tan Valley campuses. Florence Middle School is the only school on either list that is not. Circle Cross Ranch and Skyline Ranch are both San Tan Valley schools too, so whichever recommendation moves forward, four of its five schools serve San Tan Valley families.

These Are Recommendations, Not Decisions

No school has been closed. No closure has been approved. What exists today is a committee's work product: two options, handed to the Budgetary Steering Committee to weigh.

The decision itself belongs to the FUSD Governing Board, and it is months away. As SanTanValley.com reported in June, district staff plan to present options to the Governing Board in November, with a board vote set for December. Any changes approved then would take effect for the following school year.

Florence Unified serves students across Florence, San Tan Valley and Queen Creek. The district has been looking at school closures, land sales and a possible four-day week as it works to close a $5 million budget gap.

What Happens Next

There are three points to watch, in order:

1. Now: the Budgetary Steering Committee weighs the two recommendations.
2. November: staff present options to the Governing Board.
3. December: the board votes.

The board's next regular meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 8 at San Tan Foothills High School, 1255 W. Silverdale Road. Doors open at 4:45 p.m., a work study session begins at 5:30 p.m., and the regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. That September meeting is not the closure vote, but board meetings are where this process surfaces publicly. Board meeting dates, agendas and district updates are posted at fusdaz.org.