Highlights
- The Scottsdale Unified governing board voted 3-2 last week to close Copper Ridge School K-8 and Laguna Elementary.
- Declining enrollment is the stated reason, continuing a multi-year consolidation effort that has already reshaped district boundaries.
- Both campuses will remain open through the 2026-27 school year before shuttering.
- Superintendent Scott Menzel, named Arizona's superintendent of the year for 2024-25, addressed the closures in a recent Arizona Capitol Times interview.
The Scottsdale Unified School District governing board voted 3-2 last week to close Copper Ridge School K-8 and Laguna Elementary, citing declining enrollment, according to the Arizona Capitol Times. The vote was confirmed by KJZZ, KTAR, and azfamily.com, among others. Both campuses will remain open through the 2026-27 school year.
The closures are the latest step in a consolidation process the district has been working through for more than a year. The district's school repurposing and enrollment review page shows the governing board voted in February 2026 to redraw Pima Elementary boundaries, dividing portions of that attendance zone between Yavapai and Hohokam schools. A special meeting on potential closures was held Sept. 22, 2026, at Desert Mountain High School. The district has framed the consolidations as a way to optimize facility management and increase budget capacity for programming.
Why is the district closing schools now?
Scottsdale Unified faces declining enrollment, rising costs, and increased competition, according to the district's own enrollment review materials. With more than 20,000 students currently served, administrators have argued that consolidating underenrolled campuses frees resources for the remaining schools.
Superintendent Scott Menzel, who became the district's 27th superintendent in July 2020, discussed the closures in a recent interview with the Arizona Capitol Times. Menzel was named Arizona School Administrators' superintendent of the year for 2024-25. He previously led Washtenaw Intermediate School District in Michigan for nine years before joining Scottsdale Unified.
The Copper Ridge and Laguna closures are not the district's first consolidation moves under Menzel. In September, the district told families it was considering repurposing Echo Canyon School and Pima Elementary, also citing low enrollment, according to ABC15.
For property owners in the affected attendance zones, boundary reassignments will follow; the district has not yet announced which schools will absorb Copper Ridge and Laguna students. The district's next governing board meeting is the venue to watch for those details.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- azcapitoltimes.com retrieved 16/10/2026 19:31
- kjzz.org retrieved 16/10/2026 19:31
- susd.org retrieved 16/10/2026 19:31
- susd.org retrieved 16/10/2026 19:31
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 16/10/2026 19:31. Every claim traces to a source.
