School Board Expected to Vote on New Boundaries for 2020-21

January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 Karen Goveia

For 15 years, In&Out Magazine has been the definitive source of “Everything that’s going on” in and out of the community. We thank you, our readers, as well as the businesses that support the magazine through advertising, for that opportunity. But with little going on, and many businesses suspending or canceling their ads during the Covid-19 crisis, we are suspending publication of the magazine and web sites for the month of May.

Revisions have been made to Deer Valley Unified School District’s proposed new school boundaries for Anthem and North Phoenix since the first draft, undoing a significant suggested change originally proposed for Canyon Springs STEM Academy in Anthem.

During a second round of community meetings last month, DVUSD Superintendent Curtis Finch said the newest proposal suggests keeping Canyon Springs’ current boundary line east of I-17 to Gavilan Peak Parkway intact, for now. He added that Canyon Springs would extend a bit to the north on the west side of I-17 to pick up the Circle Mountain community, where most kids already open enroll at Canyon Springs anyway, he said.

The southern boundary at Canyon Springs would still extend south to Dove Valley Road on the west side of I-17, a stretch that remains largely undeveloped. “We know that zone south of Canyon Springs is going to start growing,” Finch said.

Other Anthem-area school boundaries, including Anthem School, Diamond Canyon School, Gavilan Peak School and Sunset Ridge School would remain unchanged.

“We’re not going to mess with Anthem proper at this time,” Finch told the 16 or so parents who attended the Dec. 11 meeting at Boulder Creek High School. While some of the boundary shifts, or lack of thereof, might not appear to make the best sense in terms of proximity to some schools, Finch reminded people that one objective is to create balanced enrollment at all of the elementary schools.

In the case of leaving the current east-side boundaries intact at Canyon Springs, Finch hinted to another boundary revision coming within the Anthem area in three years, after suggesting one of Anthem’s existing elementary schools may be repurposed into a “specialty school.” [See page 20.]

The DVUSD board of directors could vote on new boundaries as early as its Tuesday, Jan. 14 meeting. But, Finch was quick to remind the crowd, “A thousand different things could happen at the Jan. 14 meeting.”

Be Heard

The public is invited to weigh in on the proposed preliminary boundaries by emailing .

DVUSD Board of Directors Meeting
7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14
Potential vote on school boundary changes to be presented
DVUSD Governing Board Room
20402 N. 15th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85027

Karen Goveia

NoPho resident Karen Goveia joined In&Out Publications in 2009 and is managing editor. Goveia is a Chicagoland native with two decades of experience in the news industry, starting as a reporter for a chain of weekly papers serving Chicago’s suburbs and later serving as managing editor within the chain.