Parents take videos of students at a sixth-grade promotion ceremony at John R. Davis School in Phoenix. Photo via Roosevelt School District No. 66 /Facebook
“When you live in a poor neighborhood, you are living in an area where you have poor schools,” Malcolm X once said. “When you have poor schools, you have poor teachers. When you have poor teachers, you get a poor education.” This cycle is painfully evident in South Phoenix, where school closures threaten to deepen systemic inequities that already disproportionately harm Black and Brown students.
As a Black father in this community, I am deeply concerned that the Roosevelt School District (RSD) governing board members chose to publicly debate who truly understands what’s best for the students and teachers in the district. They did this rather than prioritizing the whole-being and mental health of those most impacted by their decision to approve or reject a plan to close five elementary schools in the Roosevelt School District.
On December 5, 2024 the district governing board members voted 4-1 to approve the plan crafted by Superintendent Dani Portillo titled “Reinvent Roosevelt – School Reconfiguration.” The plan would close schools, repurpose school buildings and vacant land that the district owns and integrate teachers and staff. She stated that five school closures would decrease the district’s debt and also put the “best students in front of the best teacher.”
The Roosevelt Governing Board members established guardrails to ensure equity and fairness throughout the entire governing board meeting and decision-making process. At the start of the meeting, Shirley Jackson, the board’s president, read Guardrail #1 to address the Nov. 19 meeting’s contentious moment with fellow board member Lawrence Robinson. Guardrail #1 states:
During the November governing board meeting, Portillo proposed to community stakeholders that closing schools is a step in the right direction, given the rapidly changing community and the need to remain competitive for teachers and students amidst the rise of charter schools.
The City of Phoenix’s Economic Innovation Group reported that South Phoenix had a median household income of $36,800 in 2019—just over half of the citywide median income of $67,000. In 2015, my wife and I purchased our first home in South Phoenix when the median home sale price was $118,000. Today, that figure has soared to $452,000. In the 85041 ZIP code, the average home sales price was $165,844 in 2015. By 2024, it had climbed to $445,669, reflecting significant growth in housing costs.
Noel Frazier, a Phoenix Union high school social worker and licensed mental health professional, emphasizes that both students and teachers face significant mental health challenges due to COVID-related shutdown, school closures and the changes in their environments. These disruptions have led to heightened levels of anxiety, depression, and substance use.
“I think teachers are more impacted than students because students still have choices about where they can go, even if their schooling options are more limited,” Frazier explained. “Students, particularly adolescents, are resilient, and they will receive an education.”
Portillo outlined the district’s persistent challenges, including a declining birth rate, unequal school choice within three ZIP codes and decreasing enrollment. She emphasized that the district would focus its limited resources on supporting students and helping them achieve at higher levels. The goal, she explained, is to ensure students thrive holistically through equitable and fair programming. Resources would be distributed to provide all students with equal opportunities across campuses, alongside career development and competitive salaries for Roosevelt School District employees.
Portillo also warned that, if the governing body rejected the proposal to close and merge five schools, the district could face severe consequences. These might include cuts to teaching staff and academic programs across all campuses, jeopardized student performance and reduced availability of social workers and assistant principals.
One thing missing from her analysis, however, was the potential adverse effects on the mental health and well-being of students and teachers directly impacted by the closures and integrations.
On the one hand, low enrollment might be due to families being unable to keep up with the fast pace of gentrification. Economic instability has been shown to increase disciplinary issues at school. However, in school districts with higher levels of Black and Brown children, these disciplinary actions tend to be disproportionately harsh, leading to increased rates of expulsion and suspension, trapping many in the school-to-prison pipeline.
School districts across the country are laying off senior teachers with more experience and advanced degrees in favor of less experienced junior teachers, who are often unfamiliar with the culture or challenges faced by communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. Districts have an economic incentive – those newer teachers typically make $40,000 to $50,000 a year, far less than the upwards of $70,000 average salary for those veteran teachers.
This trend disproportionately harms these communities, as many schools experience high turnover rates among junior teachers who struggle to adapt to the conditions of low-income schools and their lack of familiarity with Black and Brown cultures.
In light of this, many families are deciding to homeschool or enroll students in charter schools within the same district, which also contributes to declining student enrollment in public schools.
Since the COVID school closures, there has been an uptick in substance use among students. This is particularly concerning in Arizona, where marijuana has been legalized, making substances more accessible to students in various forms, such as vaping, edibles and liquids. The ease of access to these substances can significantly affect students’ health and well-being, compounding the already difficult challenges of adjusting to a rapidly changing educational environment.
There are other factors at play, which have even affected my own family when we experienced a miscarriage. From 2014 to 2023, infant mortality rates in Arizona revealed significant racial disparities. American Indian and Black children represented 7% and 11% of infant deaths, respectively, despite making up only 5% and 6% of live births. Hispanic children accounted for 47% of infant deaths but constituted 44% of live births.
Communities like South Phoenix experience pollution, unemployment and underemployment, and inadequate education, which research has shown leads to high infant mortality among Black and Brown families. These figures highlight the systemic inequities affecting Black and Brown families that may be further exacerbating the challenges faced by the Roosevelt School District.
In 1954, Brown vs.Board of Education declared segregated schools are unconstitutional. Yet, the last school to be desegregated was in 2016 in Cleveland, Mississippi. According to bestneighbor.com, Phoenix is segregated — not by legal decree, but by financial, and thus, racial, realities. Researchers report that schools with a majority of students of color are three times more likely to close. Perhaps the assumption is that these would automatically be “bad” schools.
However, in the US News & World Report 2025 rankings of the top 10 performing schools in the Roosevelt School District, seven would close or merge: Sunland Elementary School (5), Ed and Verma Pastor Elementary (7), Percy J Julian School (8), CJ Jorgenson School (10), John R. Davis School (11), and Martin Luther King Early Childhood (13).
Despite the Arizona Legislature’s decision in 2023 to eliminate result-based funding and investment formulas that previously rewarded high-performing schools based on merit assessments, the Roosevelt School District Governing Board assured the community that it remains committed to equitable opportunities for all schools in the school district and closing. It would appear that Roosevelt’s high performing schools will combine the teaching staff and students.
Frazier shared strategies and resources that can help lessen social barriers and relations between schools and families. He believes it’s important to promote social emotional learning (SEL) and creating spaces for teachers and students to process their challenges. It is important that school administration, teachers and family must take accountability to maintain clear communication to create a strong support for the student’s whole-being.
Malcolm X’s words, “When you live in a poor neighborhood, you have poor schools…poor teachers…a poor education, poor-paying jobs,” highlight the systemic inequities driving the Roosevelt School District’s plan to close and integrate schools. While challenges are undeniable, the proposed plan must prioritize the mental health and well-being of students, teachers, and families.
If not, South Phoenix’s vicious cycle of inequity will intensify, displacing communities and worsening disparities for Black and Brown children. The Roosevelt School District Governing Board must adopt holistic, community-centered solutions to empower students and preserve South Phoenix’s mental health and cultural tapestry.
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