Board votes to convert school

PHOENIX — Desert Winds Elementary School in the Deer Valley Unified district is officially closing in the 20142015 school year.

The Deer Valley Unified School District school board voted Tuesday to convert Desert Winds, 19825 N. 15th Ave., into an alternative public day school, which will serve special-education, online and alternative students.

The final vote comes after months of discussion about the merits of an alternative public day school and the campus that it would take over. The board approved the concept of an alternative public day school in January and spent the following months debating the location.

District administrators first proposed the idea of converting a school last November as a way to cut back on the cost of sending special-education students to private schools and to address low enrollment in certain elementary schools. Nine Deer Valley elementary schools, including Desert Winds, have low enrollment.

The new alternative-school campus originally was scheduled to open next school year, but the project was delayed after an outcry from Desert Winds parents. As a result, the district created a committee tasked with recommending the best location, which ultimately was Desert Winds.

The district now is looking into putting together a transition team to prepare current Desert Winds students for the move to another elementary school.