It’s back to square one for the Deer Valley Unified School’s school boundary revision process after the governing board voted against making any changes for the 2026-2027 school year. And, to complicate matters further, the district is now faced with finding a new leader to serve as superintendent.
In an unexpected twist, School Superintendent Dr. Curtis Finch, visibly frustrated with the board’s lack of action, announced his intent to resign during his superintendent report just before the March 10 governing board meeting ended.
“I will be submitting my resignation tomorrow to HR including an effective date. That’s it, thank you,” Finch said.
In an attempt to ease overcrowding and balance student enrollment particularly in DVUSD’s rapidly growing northern region, the district’s long-range planning committee’s recommendations were presented to the governing board.
Finch had hoped to put the new boundaries into place effective for the 2026-2027 school year, but a split 2-2 vote, plus one abstention—caused the boundary proposal to fail completely.
After hearing parent and community concerns and disapproval at the meeting, claiming a lack of transparency, clarity and questions regarding the integrity of the data used to draft the suggested changes as well as concerns regarding the selection process of the committee tasked with analyzing the data, board members Kim Fisher and Stephanie Simacek voted against the proposal, while Karen Pack abstained from voting, due to “not enough information,” she said.
“From my chair, it’s either we trust the superintendent in the process or we don’t,” Finch told the governing board before they voted.
On an annual basis, DVUSD commissions a local demographer to complete a report to assist the district with enrollment and capacity predictions 10 years out. Since 2019, annual data has pointed to school boundaries in need of being redrawn where school capacity has been an ongoing struggle in the growing Norterra area. The latest demographer’s report used was from 2024-25, which re-emphasized that Sonoran Foothills and Union Park schools are expected to exceed capacity by fiscal years 2027 and 2028, respectively. By definition, schools operating at 80 percent of capacity are considered overcrowded. Norterra Canyon, currently operating at 61 percent of its capacity, is expected to see enrollment decline and projected to operate at 55 percent of its capacity at the start of the 2026-27 school year, according to the draft report from Applied Economics.
“The numbers from 2019 said we were going to be in trouble and this board chose to kick the can down the road and they got out their own marker and made their own boundaries, against my recommendation, against the committee’s recommendation–who spent hundreds of hours working on it.”
Curtis Finch –
DVUSD Superintendent
Meanwhile, new multi-family home construction is booming east of I-17 between Sonoran Desert Drive and Dove Valley Road and west of the freeway—with another 8,960 units planned in the Halo Vista mixed-use development which just broke ground in March, surrounding TSMC on the west side of I-17. Plus, another 15,000 new housing units are proposed near TSMC by Pulte Homes, which is being dubbed a city the size of nearby Anthem.
Other schools expected to exceed capacity in the immediate future are Stetson Hills and Desert Mountain, also due to new residential growth.
While board members acknowledged a change in boundaries is necessary to ease overcrowding, those opposed sided with the upset parents who encouraged the board to delay the vote until the newest data (2025-26 currently in draft form) has been verified, and alternative solutions can be offered for the board to consider to avoid additional moves in the future. Board member Kim Fisher suggested a future working board session to look at the boundaries closer.
“Making a decision that will affect many communities in this district is extremely challenging when we have asked for information and our parents have asked for information and it comes back in a way that is just either very unclear or not available yet… how are we as board members supposed to make an educated vote, when we’re still waiting for information, and how do we make that informed vote when our community is here asking for that as well,” Simacek said, before voting against the proposal.
The district’s latest demographer’s report has been received and is currently under review by administration. As of this writing, the report has not been made available to the public.
The long-range planning committee, composed of parents, staff, and community members, spent hours pouring over demographer’s data alongside parent survey input to help try to balance enrollment over the next decade.
Finch reiterated that the enrollment numbers and projections haven’t changed much since the district began receiving annual demographer’s projections for the past several years.
“The numbers from 2019 said we were going to be in trouble and this board chose to kick the can down the road and they got out their own marker and made their own boundaries, against my recommendation, against the committee’s recommendation–who spent hundreds of hours working on it.” Finch told the board.
“Fast forward to 2026 we’re in the same predicament… and now the newest report in draft form—it’s actually worse than we thought and I predict it’s only going to get worse in the future,” Finch added. “We are in charge of using our facilities wisely… and we will not be allowed to approach the community and ask for a bond in the future if we haven’t used our facilities wisely.”
In his resignation letter to the board, Finch included an effective date of June 30, 2027, but also added that he’s open to accelerate his transition, if the majority of the School Board prefers. “My only priority is doing what serves the best interest of DVUSD,” he stated in the letter.
When school resumes in August for the 2026-2027 school year, both Sonoran Foothills and Union Park schools will continue to operate at overcrowded levels.
By Karen Goveia
editor@valleyvibenews.com
