Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-4_74-cv-00090/USCOURTS-azd-4_74-cv-00090-31/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Federal Question: Other Civil Rights

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

Roy and Josie Fisher, et al.,

 Plaintiffs 

and 

United States of America, 

 Plaintiff-Intervenor, 

v. 

Tucson Unified School District, et al., 

 Defendants, 

and 

Sidney L. Sutton, et al., 

 Defendants-Intervenors, 

No. CV-74-00090-TUC-DCB

Maria Mendoza, et al., 

Plaintiffs, 

and 

United States of America, 

 Plaintiff-Intervenor, 

v. 

Tucson Unified School District, et al. 

Defendants.

No. CV-74-0204-TUC-DCB

ORDER 

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Notice and Requests for Approval (NARA) of Grade Reconfiguration at elementary 

schools Borman, Collier, Drachman, Fruchthendler and Sabino High School. 

 On November 16, 2015, TUSD filed the NARA proposing to add 6th-8th grades at 

Borman K-5; 6th grade at Collier K-5; 7th-8th grades at Drachman K-6, 6th grade at 

Fruchthendler K-5, and 7th-8th grades at Sabino High School. (NARA (Doc. 1869)). The 

parties agreed to a briefing schedule as follows: 20 days from the filing date of the 

NARA for the parties to file any objections previously raised with the Special Master; 20 

days from the filing of any objections for TUSD to file a Response, simultaneously, with 

the Special Master and the Court; the Special Master to have 10 days to file a Report and 

Recommendation (R&R) and request expedited ruling within 30 days. The parties were 

allowed five days after the filing of the R&R to file an objection to any new issue raised 

in the R&R. 

 The parties filed Objections on December 7, 2015. TUSD responded on 

December 23, 2015. The Special Master filed the R&R on January 6, 2016. On January 

13, 2016, TUSD filed an objection to “new” issues raised in the R&R related to adding 

7th and 8th grades at Sabino High School, which include: 1) whether the addition 

improves integration at Sabino and Magee and does not exacerbate racial concentration; 

2) whether the addition takes into account current and future patterns of choice; 3) 

whether TUSD considered valid survey data indicating significant potential for 

improving integration through incentive transportation with express buses; 4) whether the 

7th-12th grade structure is not unusual, and 5) whether TUSD demonstrates a strong 

likelihood for positive integrative impacts at Magee with outreach and recruitment efforts 

to ensure the proposal does not negatively impact other USP obligations. TUSD asked 

the Court to rule by February 5, 2016. 

 Changes which open new middle schools and move students from one school to 

another are not easily undone. Missed opportunities to improve diversity may be missed 

forever. And of course, changes exacerbating segregation must be avoided. The Court 

grants the reconfiguration of Drachman, only. The NARA is denied for the remainder of 

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TUSD’s proposed reconfigurations. 

 Reconfigure Drachman Elementary School K-6 to K-8. 

 Drachman K-6 Montessori is a nationally-recognized high-achieving magnet 

school located on the District’s west side on S. 10th Avenue just north of W. 22nd St. 

Drachman is a racially concentrated school, with 75% Latino students and an incoming 

class that is 68% Latino. The plan is to use incentive “express bussing” for Anglo 

students from the north and east sides of the District to attend Drachman K-8. All parties 

agree that the likely impact of adding grades seven through eight at Drachman will 

improve integration and afford more students an opportunity to experience an integrated 

school environment. 

 Reconfigure Borman Elementary School K-5 to K-8 

 Borman elementary school is located on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base 

(DMAFB). It serves children of military personnel and civil servants living and working 

on the base. Accordingly, many of the Borman students are not TUSD students and 

TUSD students cannot attend Borman unless their parents or grandparents are in the 

military. TUSD argues that adding the middle school at Borman would have virtually no 

impact on the surrounding middle schools because approximately 70% of the children 

attending Borman do not attend TUSD middle schools. After Borman, these students 

move to a charter K-8 on-base school or go to middle schools outside of TUSD. TUSD 

seeks to add grades six through eight to compete with the on-base charter school and to 

discourage students at Borman from going to middle schools outside TUSD. 

 The Court has seen this request before. In 2007, TUSD sought and was denied 

leave to open then recently closed Lowell Smith Elementary School as an on-base middle 

school. Then as now, TUSD hoped to compete with the on-base charter school and to 

prevent students from going to schools outside of TUSD. See (Order (Doc. 1209), see 

also (Notice of Reconsideration to Reopen Smith (Doc. 1264)). Then as now, the TUSD 

school serving DMAFB was Roberts-Naylor K-8, which is only 3.5 miles from the front 

gate of DMAFB. (Order (Doc. 1209)). 

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 In 2007, Roberts-Naylor’s student body was 82% minority, and it had “been 

designated a failing school under AZLearns and as “underachieving” by the No Child 

Left Behind Act.” Id. at 2, 4. “The Arizona Department of Education had issued a 

report describing its deficiencies, identifying needs and proven strategies to improve 

student academic performance at Naylor Middle School.” Id. (citation omitted).

 According to Plaintiffs Fisher, Roberts-Naylor’s student body is now 11% Anglo 

making it a racially concentrated minority school. (Fisher Objection (Doc. 1877) at 7; 

NARA (Doc. 1880) at 3, n. 5 (TUSD estimates its minority population at 80% (58% 

African American; 22% Latino); (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 2: Desegregation Impact 

Analysis (DIA) at 2)). 

 Borman’s Anglo student body is 54%. (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 2: DIA at 4.) 

Borman is an A school (2013-14 SY); Roberts-Naylor is a C school (2013-14 SY). 

(Fisher Objection (Doc. 1880) at 7). TUSD estimates that 70% of the Borman Area 

students may not attend TUSD schools after the 5th grade. (Doc. 1869) at 9 (citing Ex. 2 

at 5-6.) According to TUSD the Borman proposal will not change anything; it neither 

improves nor exacerbates ethnic imbalances. Id. It simply retains the status quo which 

now exists through the 5th grade and extends it through to the 8th grade. 

 To address any impact on Roberts-Naylor K-8, TUSD proposes to add the 

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program to improve its 

attractiveness and enhance integration there. The AVID program prepares African 

American and Latino students for success in core classes and Advanced Learning 

Experiences (ALEs) such as Gate and pre-AP classes. (NARA (Doc. 1869) at 10 (citing 

Ex. 2: DIA at 2)). TUSD justifies the Borman reconfiguration because it creates the 

educational benefit of K-8 grades for Borman students. Id. 

 TUSD submits: What are at issue, here, are 36 students who currently will move 

from Borman at the end of the 5th grade to non-TUSD schools. (NARA (Doc. 1869) Ex. 

2: DIA at 6.) Approximately, 54% of these 36 students are Anglo: approximately 19 

students. Adding AVID at Roberts-Naylor will not draw these students to RobertsCase 4:74-cv-00090-DCB Document 1909 Filed 03/08/16 Page 4 of 18
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Naylor because AVID is designed for minority students, not Anglo students. The 

addition of AVID may indirectly impact future integration by improving academic 

achievement at the school, which will make Roberts-Naylor a more attractive choice to 

all students including those now choosing to attend Borman, the on-base charter school 

and other non-TUSD schools. But, creating a middle school at Borman will ensure that 

Borman students will neither attend Roberts-Naylor’s K-8 nor move to Roberts-Naylor in 

the 7th grade. Creating a middle school at Borman to afford its students the same K-8 

experience available to Roberts-Naylor students directly competes with Roberts-Naylor’s 

marketing advantage over Borman, if all other things were equal. 

 TUSD submits the importance of adding middle school grades at Borman is to 

keep Anglo students from leaving TUSD schools and thereby becoming unavailable for 

the purpose of future integration efforts. (TUSD at 9.) In this case, TUSD must mean for 

purposes of integrating its high schools because they would attend Borman through the 

8th grade. Given the unique characteristics of the Borman students, TUSD does not 

explain why they would not continue to leave TUSD after completing school at Borman, 

whether that is in five or eight years. The plan to add grades 7 and 8 to Borman will 

attract and retain a student population which is 54% Anglo to attend Borman, a school 

which is the same. 

 Relevant to integration, the Court asks two questions. First, would approximately 

19 Anglo students make a difference to integration efforts at Roberts-Naylor. The second 

question is whether there are any strategies which would draw Borman student’s to 

Roberts-Naylor instead of to the K-8 on-base charter school or to middle schools outside 

of TUSD. If any such strategies exist, this would increase the number of Anglo students 

at Roberts-Naylor beyond 19. Like the AVID program at Roberts-Naylor, adding even 

minority students from Borman would indirectly improve future integration by improving 

the overall academic environment at Roberts-Naylor because Borman is an A school. 

One educational opportunity not currently available at Borman but offered at RobertsNaylor is K-8 grades. The USP requires more than just doing no harm, it requires TUSD 

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to take affirmative actions to do good in the context of improving integration and the 

quality of education for minority students, if it can. In other words, it is not ok for TUSD 

to base its Borman proposal on “current patterns of choice” if it has the means to change 

those choices. Roberts-Naylor is a racially concentrated school uniquely situated 

adjacent to DMAFB, an unusual source of Anglo students, which could affirmatively 

impact integration at Roberts-Naylor if they could be directed there. Until the Court is 

certain that Roberts-Naylor cannot be a viable K-8 program for Borman students, it will 

not approve a plan which will ensure Roberts-Naylor can never be such an alternative. 

 Since 2007, there have been measures proposed to improve the quality of 

education at Roberts-Naylor. Since 2007, TUSD has been trying to attract DMAFB 

students to TUSD schools. It is important to know the successes or failures TUSD has 

experienced given this history, and within that context assess whether there are any 

strategies that could be implemented at Roberts-Naylor to make it a viable K-8 option for 

students now attending Borman, the on-base charter school, or other non-TUSD middle 

schools. Then, if the conclusion is that Roberts-Naylor cannot be a viable K-8 option, 

then the addition of grades seven and eight at Borman can be established as having 

virtually no impact on Roberts-Naylor. 

 The Court asks TUSD to prepare a detailed report regarding the academic and 

demographic conditions at Roberts-Naylor and describe the measures, if any, which have 

been or could be taken by TUSD to transform Roberts-Naylor into a viable K-8 program 

capable of competing with the middle schools now attracting the Borman students. 

TUSD should explain why or why not it is feasible to implement any such identified 

measures. TUSD should consider a time line to accomplish a transformation at RobertsNaylor sufficient to begin attracting students that currently choose to go elsewhere. 

TUSD shall provide its report to the Special Master and the Plaintiffs, with the Special 

Master preparing a supplement to his R&R in respect to adding grades 6 through 8 at 

Borman K-5. 

///// 

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Reconfigure Collier K-5 and Fruchthendler K-5 to K-6 schools, and add a 7th and 8th

grade middle school at Sabino High School 

 Like the Borman reconfiguration, the Court has previously seen this proposal. In 

April 2015, TUSD filed a NARA to at what it then described as an honors FruchthendlerSabino pipeline. Then as now TUSD admitted it would draw Anglo students away from 

Magee, but that Magee had a sufficient Anglo student population to withstand the loss of 

white students. The Court denied TUSD’s request to reconfigure these schools because 

TUSD had failed to take a comprehensive look at its impact. (Order (Doc. 1799)). TUSD 

has now taken that look and reurges the request. 

 Currently, Collier and Fruchthendler students matriculate to Magee Middle School 

for grades 6-8 and from there students living north of Magee move to Sabino High 

School and students living south of Magee move to Sahuaro High School. By opening a 

new middle school at Sabino High School, TUSD would change the matriculation of 

students from Fruchthendler and Collier schools. Glaringly missing from TUSD’s DIAs 

for these schools are their academic ratings, but TUSD tells the Court that Sabino High 

School is an A school with a stellar reputation, and TUSD’s website reflects that Sahuaro 

High School is a B school. The TUSD website reflects that Fruchthendler1

 and Collier 

are B schools and Magee Middle School is a C school. See www.Tusdstats.tusd.k12. 

az.us/paweb/aggd/schoolinfo/ShoolDetail.aspx. 

 The racial makeup of these schools tracks the racial makeup of the District with 

Anglo neighborhoods lying to the northeast and minority neighborhoods sitting south and 

west in the District. So, Sabino High School has a 54.8% Anglo student body, and 

Sahuaro High School’s student body is 41.6% Anglo. Collier Elementary School’s 

Anglo students are 64.3%. Fruchthendler’s Anglo students are 62.7%. Magee Middle 

School’s Anglo population drops to 44.5%. See www.tusd1.org/contents/distinfo/deseg 

/Documents/AR15/AppendixII-11.pdf. 

///// 

 

1

 Fruchthendler was an A school. (Order (Doc. 1799) at 2.) 

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 TUSD has promoted the reconfigurations as ways to create equity between the east 

and west sides of the District in respect to K-6 and K-8 programs, but addition of 6th

grades at Collier and Fruchthendler elementary schools does not create parity with the 

opportunity afforded students on the west side and central portions of the district to stay 

at one school, K-8, until transitioning to high school.2

 The K-6 configuration still 

requires dual transitions from elementary school to middle school to high school. The 

only difference is that the transition occurs between 6th and 7th grade, instead of 5th and 6th

grades. 

 The Court does not see TUSD’s proposal to open a middle school as a transition 

saving measure. The DIA suggests that the middle school would be a separate school 

keeping the pre-teen 7th and 8th graders separate from the upper classmen. (NARA (Doc. 

1869), Ex. 6: DIA at 3), but see id. (suggesting cost reduction in transportation if 7th and 

8th graders ride with upper grades). The Special Master pointed out that TUSD is 

proposing an unusual structure to add 7th and 8th grades at a high school. TUSD responds 

that Basis Tucson North is 5th- 12th grades and provides a list of 13 other charter or 

private schools with some combination of 5th through 12th grades. (TUSD Objection to 

R&R (Doc. 1886), Ex. 1.) The Court is not convinced that small charter and private 

schools are good comparisons to a large public school like Sabino High with over 1,000 

high school students. TUSD has not discussed how the special developmental needs of 

7th and 8th graders will be addressed in a high school environment. After all, it was the 

unique character of 7th and 8th graders that drove the creation of middle schools in the 

first place. Except for transportation costs, TUSD appears to bundle the costs of the 

middle school into the Sabino High School operations. For example, there appears to be 

no separate administration or disciplinary program planned for these middle school 

students. 

 

2

 The west side has 10 K-8 schools; central Tucson has two K-8 schools, and the 

east side has two K-8 schools. The Court does not know the proportion of the District’s 

students being served in these respective areas so the significance of the number of K-8 

schools in the respective areas is of limited value. 

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 The Court is concerned about a hasty rush to simply add 7th and 8th grades at high 

schools in TUSD as a means to reduce transitions, if the better solution is to add 7th and 

8th grades to elementary schools. And, it appears TUSD is considering such plans. 

TUSD is also considering moving 7th and 8th grades coming from Cavett Elementary 

School to Catalina High School bypassing Utterback Middle School. (NARA (Doc. 

1869), Ex. Ex 7: DIA at 4). Unlike the Sabino High School reconfiguration, the Catalina 

High School reconfiguration would promote integration by shifting students from racially 

concentrated Utterback Middle School to the integrated high school. This might seem a 

handy integration device to move students from smaller school environments, which are 

by their nature harder to integrate, to larger high school environments, which generally 

are more integrated. But this would be a false assumption, if the middle schools being 

opened on high school campuses must be kept separate—then the larger integrated high 

school student bodies will not contribute towards an integrative experience for 7th and 8th

graders. 

 TUSD reports that there are only two elementary schools remaining in TUSD with 

the capacity for becoming K-8 schools: Erickson and Lynn/Urquides. Beyond this 

information, TUSD does not address whether either of these two schools or any existing 

K-8 school in the District might be marketed to students on the north or east sides of the 

District. Again, TUSD analysis ignores the most important marketing tool for any 

school: academic achievement. The Court notes that where TUSD operates A-schools, 

students attend, including students outside that school’s district and even from outside of 

TUSD. Sabino High School draws approximately 53% of its students from outside the 

school’s attendance area, (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 6: DIA at 2), and approximately 30 

students enter as 9th graders from outside TUSD, id. See also University High School 

and Dodge Middle School. 

 The Court does not agree with the Student Assignment Committee’s conclusion 

that “virtually all of the central and west schools are racially concentrated so adding more 

students to them would not have an integrative effect.” (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 7: DIA 

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at 2.) It would so, if Anglo students were added at racially concentrated schools. A bus 

traveling south travels the same distance as a bus traveling north: a mile is a mile. TUSD 

conducted a survey of parents of 6th and 7th grade students currently attending racially 

concentrated middle schools and asked if they would be interested in incentive 

transportation to Sabino High School if the trip took between 45 minutes and one hour. 

They responded affirmatively (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 6: DIA at 13.) But, 

Fruchthendler parents complained that traffic makes the travel time for the 4 mile trip 

between Fruchthendler and Magee extremely long. ((NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 5: DIA at 

9.) 

 TUSD also surveyed parents of 5th grade students at racially concentrated schools 

and asked if an express bus were provided would they be interested in sending their 

children to Magee Middle School and described it as having “strong academics and an 

outstanding Odyssey of the Mind competition group,” or Fruchthendler, which is “a 

highly performing school on the eastside of Tucson,” or Collier, which is “a tight-knit 

community of learners on the northeast side of Tucson.” (Mendoza Objections (Doc. 

1867), Ex. 2: Survey questions.) TUSD saw positive feedback here too. 

 Without more, the Court concludes that the positive feedback was due to parents 

of students attending racially concentrated schools that Sabino was an A school and that 

Magee had strong academics and an outstanding Odyssey of the Mind competition group, 

and parents believed these schools would be superior to the school their child was 

attending. The Plaintiffs and the Special Master point out that Magee Middle School is a 

C school, a fact the Fruchthendler parents, whose children are targeted to attend it, are 

more likely to know. Additionally, the Mendoza Plaintiffs question whether Magee can 

even retain its current attractiveness because TUSD has recently placed its alternative to 

long-term suspension program at Magee. (Mendoza Objection (Doc. 1876) at 9.) TUSD 

responds that most parents are not aware of this, (Response (Doc. 1880) at 8). They will, 

however, undoubtedly find out. 

///// 

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 The Court notes that all this is mere supposition when in fact, TUSD currently 

offers free incentive transportation to students at racially concentrated schools to attend 

schools where their attendance would have an integrative impact. In other words, 

students in racially concentrated schools may already attend Fruchthendler and Collier, 

Magee Middle School or Sabino High School and may use free incentive transportation 

services provided by TUSD to get there and back. TUSD says “only a handful” of 

students are currently attending these schools using TUSD’s incentive transportation 

program. (NARA (Doc. 1869) at 7.) The Mendoza Plaintiffs point out that only 699 

non-Anglo students district-wide utilized incentive transportation in 2014-2015. Using 

TUSD’s conservative 6% estimate of the 874 positive survey responses, TUSD believes 

express bussing will add approximately 100 minority students at Sabino, but the 

Mendoza Plaintiffs point out this would equal one seventh of all the non-white students 

who were provided incentive transportation in 2014-2015. (Mendoza Objection (Doc. 

1876) at 6); see also (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 5: DIA at 3) (busses with 50 students each 

to Sabino); (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 6: DIA at 7 (one bus with 40 students to Magee). 

The Plaintiffs and the Special Master’s point is that the survey responses are unreliable. 

(Mendoza Objection (Doc. 1876) at 5; Fisher Objection (Doc. 1877) at 14-16; R&R 

(Doc. 1884) at 2-3.) 

 The success of express busing is important because it provides the only 

opportunity for the Fruchthendler/Collier to Sabino reconfiguration to have any positive 

impact on integration whatsoever. If a child lives within the boundaries of a racially 

concentrated school and chooses to attend a school through open enrollment, he or she 

may be eligible for free transportation there depending on the demographics of the home 

school, the open enrollment school, and the student’s ethnicity. www.tusd.k12az.us 

/contents/distinfo/deseg/schoolchoicecalculator.asp. TUSD plans to add express bussing 

to its incentive transportation program to reduce travel time and increase the 

attractiveness of Collier, Fruchthendler, Magee, and Sabino schools. (NARA (Doc. 

1869) at 7.) TUSD also agrees to the Special Master’s suggestion for a controlled choice 

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admission plan which would link increased Anglo student enrollment to increased 

minority student enrollment. (Reply to R&R (Doc. 1886) at 8.) The Sabino Middle 

School is a three-year phase in plan with SY 2016-17 for planning, adding 7th grade in 

SY 2017-18, and adding 8th grade in SY 2018-19. TUSD will make a substantial 

investment in time and money on this proposed reconfiguration plan, which at best has 

tentative indicia of having any positive impact on integration. Unwinding it would be 

impossible in the event express bussing is not successful. And, the Court cannot ignore 

the dismal track record of minority student utilization of incentive busing in this very 

area. 

 Soon TUSD will have hard data proving how far middle school Anglo-students 

are willing to travel on express busses to attend an outstanding school, Drachman, which 

is also a racially concentrated school (75% Latino). (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 4: DIA at 

4.) If Drachman is successful there is no reason to believe that other successes cannot 

follow. Nothing stops TUSD from introducing express busses from racially concentrated 

schools to Magee Middle School or to B elementary schools like Fruchthendler or 

Collier, or Sabino High School. Such bus routes would provide hard evidence regarding 

how many students will actually ride buses northeast and how far. Hard evidence is 

critical because any positive integrative affect from the Fruchthendler/Collier-Sabino 

reconfiguration hinges on express bussing. 

 The goal behind opening a middle school at Sabino High School is not to shift 

Anglo students away from Magee Middle School. Like the Borman plan, creating Sabino 

Middle School is aimed at attracting and retaining students on the northeast side of the 

District who currently do not go to any TUSD school and instead choose to go to charter 

schools or to go outside the District. Because these students are not going to Magee 

Middle School, TUSD reasons that securing their attendance at a new middle school 

located on the prestigious Sabino High School campus will not directly affect integration 

at Magee Middle School. On the flip side, attracting and retaining these students, who in 

the majority will be Anglo, will not improve integration of the majority Anglo student 

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bodies at Collier or Fruchthendler elementary schools or Sabino High School. (NARA 

(Doc. 1869), Ex. 6: DIA at 4 (estimating that “almost all” 6th graders would transition to 

Sabino). There is no evidence that these “new” students will be directed to any TUSD 

schools to help integration and the intent is the contrary: TUSD intends that these 

students will attend Fruchthendler, Collier, and Sabino—both middle school and high 

school. There will be no new pool of potential attendees for the purpose of integrating 

any other TUSD schools. This reconfiguration simply maintains the status quo. 

 In respect to integration, TUSD admits, based on current capture rates, that nine 

students will go from Fruchthendler to Magee, (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 5: DIA at 8, and 

23 students will go from Collier to Magee, (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 3: DIA at 8). The 

difference in travel time does not explain the difference in matriculation because there are 

four miles between Fruchthendler and Magee and 4.5 miles between Collier and Magee. 

The estimated travel time, without traffic is approximately eight minutes. The trip 

between Fruchthendler and Sabino High School is 7.5 miles, and Collier Elementary 

School is only 2.2 miles from Sabino High School. TUSD expects all these students to 

transition to Sabino. (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 6: DIA at 4.) In other words, Magee 

Middle School will lose 32 Anglo students. 

 Will this have a negative impact on integration at Magee Middle School? TUSD 

says no. It will actually improve integration at Magee because it has a small enough 

Hispanic student population (38.0%) that if some of its Anglo students (48 %) leave 

Magee it will improve integration by boosting the Hispanic student ratio upwards towards 

the +/ – 15% definition for an integrated school under the Unitary Status Plan. While the 

District asserts “it is not advocating for reducing any school’s white student population 

as a desegregation strategy,” TUSD nevertheless asserts that if Magee’s white student 

population was reduced to 28% and the Latino student population increased to 55%, “the 

result would be an Integrated School under the USP.” (TUSD Response (Doc. 1880) 

at 9) (emphasis in original). 

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 TUSD bases this argument on the +/– 15% allowance for integration, but ignores 

the end of the equation which is that if Anglo student enrollment falls below 38% Magee 

would not be integrated. The USP describes a racially concentrated school as: any school 

in which any racial or ethnic group exceeds 70% of the school’s total enrollment. The 

USP describes an integrated school as: any school in which no racial or ethnic group 

varies from the district average for that grade level (elementary school, middle school, K8, high school) by more than +/- 15 percentage points. 

 The +/– 15% rule, like the 70% cap rule, was designed to accommodate a District 

with an average 60% majority Hispanic student population and a small 23% Anglo 

student population and to account for some neighborhoods being almost exclusively one 

race. Neither rule was designed to produce a numeric integration goal; the USP does not 

require a school to attain integration status. The purpose of both rules was to allow 

TUSD to show positive integration in the face of overwhelming numbers of Latino 

students in a school. The rules work as follows. A school will be considered racially 

concentrated if the student body is more than 70% one minority. The +/ – 15% formula 

produces a range within which a school may be considered integrated. At Magee Middle 

School, the 23% district-wide Anglo student average means that Anglo students should 

be at least 38% of the student body. They are 48%. The 62% district-wide Hispanic 

student average means that Hispanic students may make up 47% to 70% of the student 

population without Magee being considered racially concentrated. They are 35%. 

 Magee is not considered integrated within the context of the 15% margins, but that 

does not preclude this Court from recognizing that it has a healthy racial mix. Magee 

Middle School is uniquely located in TUSD to be in close proximity to both Anglo and 

Hispanic students. Middle class, predominately Anglo, neighborhoods lie north of 

Magee Middle School and lower socio-economic, predominately Hispanic, 

neighborhoods are south. This explains the balance of Anglo and Hispanic students 

there. The Court categorically rejects the notion that Magee Middle School’s naturally 

integrated district must be skewed by a formula developed to account for schools in 

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TUSD that sit in predominately Anglo or predominately Hispanic neighborhoods. This 

Court will not advocate reducing the number of white students and increasing the number 

of Hispanic students at Magee Middle School as an integration strategy, especially here 

where the Anglo students are being shifted from a school where they make up 44.5% of 

the students to schools where they will make up over 60% of the students. 

 The real question is whether or not it impacts integration at Magee Middle School 

to create an A middle school at Sabino High School. TUSD admits the Sabino middle 

school will attract essentially all the Fruchthendler and Collier students. (NARA (Doc. 

1869), Ex. 6: DIA at 4.) There is no reason it will not attract other students interested in 

an A-school experience as well, especially those living nearest to it. Because Magee 

Middle School is not racially concentrated, express bussing will not be afforded its 

students to attend Sabino, therefore, its students will be left behind in a C school while 

Fruchthendler and Collier students move north for 7th and 8th grades at an A school. And, 

middle class families living north of Magee who can provide their own transportation 

will be better positioned to attend the A middle school planned at Sabino than lowerincome Hispanic families residing south of Magee. And, if middle class families move 

their students to Sabino, whether they are Anglo or Hispanic, the level of academic 

achievement will decline at Magee Middle School. (R&R (Doc. 1884) at 5.) Admitting 

as much, TUSD advises that it will add AVID and AP programs at Magee to prepare 

African and Latino students for success in core classes and Advanced Learning 

Experiences (ALEs) such as GATE and pre-AP classes. (NARA (Doc. 1869), Ex. 6: DIA 

at 10). Is this enough? No. 

 Except for the argument rejected here that decreasing Anglo students and 

increasing Latino students at Magee Middle School will make it integrated, TUSD 

suggests no integrative value whatsoever to the reconfiguration of Fruchthendler and 

Collier elementary schools to add 6th grades there and open a new middle school at 

Sabino High School. Without a successful express bussing program there can be no 

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positive impact on integrating the TUSD school district. The reconfiguration brings new 

Anglo students into TUSD to attend majority Anglo schools. 

 Just because these students do not currently attend TUSD schools, specifically 

Magee Middle School, does not mean this plan will not impact integration efforts in 

TUSD. Embarking on this plan closes the door for Magee Middle School or any other 

existing TUSD school, with higher percentages of minority students than Sabino, to be 

the subject of a plan to attract Anglo students currently not attending TUSD schools. The 

Court recognizes no such school currently exists to compete with Sabino High School’s 

stellar A rating, but TUSD should consider whether the possibility exists for Magee 

Middle School or any other TUSD school to become an attractive option. The integrative 

impact of such a plan would substantially move the District towards unitary status 

because it would simultaneously improve the academic quality of the school for the 

minority students attending it. 

 As for mitigating measures, TUSD has not shown that express bussing will work 

to move students from racially concentrated schools north. It has not shown that adding 

AVID, ALE, GATE and AP-classes will improve academic achievement at Magee 

Middle School. The Court approves TUSD’s plan to try both. Except for Drachman, 

TUSD has not considered the option of moving Anglo students south. TUSD has not 

considered whether improvements could be made to any schools centrally located or to 

the south of the District which would make them attractive K-8 schools for Anglo 

students residing on the north side of the District. 

 The Court cannot find any positive impact on integration from the reconfiguration 

of Fruchthendler/Collier elementary schools from K-5 to K-6, with a middle school 

added at Sabino High School. The reconfiguration simply provides more opportunities to 

Anglo students in predominately Anglo schools. As the Fisher Plaintiffs note: if Whiteflight is a factor in the resistance by Anglo students to travel south in the TUSD district, 

TUSD should reconsider a plan that would facilitate White-flight. (Fisher Objection 

(Doc.1877) at 17.) After implementing express bussing and making improvements at 

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Magee Middle School, TUSD should be better positioned to consider the question of 

White-flight. As it now stands, the proposed reconfiguration will have a negative impact 

on integration at Magee Middle School, which while minor, is enough for this Court to 

deny the NARA given the other concerns outlined above. 

Accordingly, 

 IT IS ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation (R&R) (Doc. 1884) IS 

ADOPTED IN PART AND REJECTED IN PART as follows. 

 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the NARA (1869) is APPROVED IN PART 

as to the reconfiguration of Drachman K-6 to a K-8 school. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the NARA (1869) is NOT APPROVED IN 

PART as for TUSD’s plan to reconfigure Borman K-5 to a K-8 school. TUSD shall 

prepare a detailed report regarding the academic and demographic conditions at RobertsNaylor and describe the measures, if any, which have been or could be taken by TUSD to 

transform Roberts-Naylor into a viable K-8 program capable of competing with the 

middle schools now attracting the Borman students. TUSD should explain why or why 

not it is feasible to implement any such identified measures. TUSD should consider a 

time line to accomplish a transformation at Roberts-Naylor sufficient to begin attracting 

students that currently choose to go elsewhere. Within 30 days of the filing date of this 

Order, TUSD shall provide its report to the Special Master and the Plaintiffs, with the 

Special Master preparing a supplement to his R&R in respect to adding grades 6 through 

8 at Borman K-5. The Special Master shall a supplement to the R&R within 14 days of 

receiving TUSD’s report. All parties may have 14 days to file objections to the Special 

Master’s Borman supplement. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the NARA is NOT approved to reconfigure 

Fruchthendler and Collier elementary schools to add the 6th grade and to add a middle 

school (7th and 8th grades) at Sabino High School. The Court approves the NARA in 

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respect to TUSD’s plan to add express bussing and the AVID and AP programs at Magee 

Middle School and Advanced Learning Experiences (ALEs) such as GATE and pre-AP 

classes. 

 Dated this 8th day of March, 2016. 

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