Phoenix Union High School District
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The Phoenix Union High School District is a
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
-only
school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...
in
Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
,
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is one of five high school-only districts in the Phoenix area.


Overview

The school district serves students within a area of Phoenix, and 27,761 students are enrolled within its 20 schools. Its boundaries are largely coextensive with what was the city of Phoenix prior to the 1960s. The school is a
minority-majority A majority-minority or minority-majority area is a term used to refer to a subdivision in which one or more racial, ethnic, and/or religious minorities (relative to the whole country's population) make up a majority of the local population. Ter ...
district, with 81.7% of its students being identified as "Hispanics", and 52.4% of its students speaking
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
at home. In all, 71 languages have been identified as primary home languages. The district employs 2,777 people, with 1,617 of them being teachers. The school district has no elementary or middle schools, and as such, it has identified 13 elementary school districts as its Partner Elementary Districts, with students who enroll with those districts being fed into PUHSD's high schools.


History

The school district's roots lie with the opening of
Phoenix Union High School Phoenix Union High School (PUHS) was a high school that was part of the Phoenix Union High School District in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, one of five high school-only school districts in the Phoenix area. Founded in 1895 and closed in 1992, the ...
in 1895. In that same year, Arizona's Territorial Legislature passed a law that allowed districts with at least 2,000 residents to form high schools. Phoenix Union High School first opened with four classrooms and 90 students, on the second floor of an elementary school building, but eventually moved into its final location, near 7th Street and Van Buren. The school campus was a former mansion, and was chosen at the time because it was located in a residential area, bordered in part by two arterial streets. PUHS also affected later developmental patterns in the area.


Phoenix College

In 1920, Phoenix Union High School District opened
Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union High School and Juni ...
as Phoenix Junior College, after consultation with
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
and the designing of a two-year curriculum. The school, however, was considered to be extra-legal, as no laws authorized its existence. That changed in 1927, after the
Arizona State Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the s ...
authorized and legalized the creation and maintenance of Junior Colleges in Arizona. Phoenix Union High School District would vote to transfer Phoenix College to the Maricopa County Community College District in 1963.


Segregation of African American students

Beginning in the late 1910s, Phoenix Union High School District began segregating its
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
and
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
students. While segregation of elementary schools in Arizona was mandated, segregation of high schools was never required under Arizona law. In 1918, a "Department for Colored Students" that was established at a rear room of
Phoenix Union High School Phoenix Union High School (PUHS) was a high school that was part of the Phoenix Union High School District in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, one of five high school-only school districts in the Phoenix area. Founded in 1895 and closed in 1992, the ...
's Commercial Building, with one teacher. The school's African American students were then housed in two small cottages that was separated from the PUHS campus by an irrigation ditch., and later placed at a rented house on 9th Street and Jefferson. A plot of land that would later become the
Phoenix Union Colored High School Carver High School (Full name George Washington Carver High School, formerly known as Phoenix Union Colored High School) was a high school in Phoenix, Arizona, established for the benefit of African-American ("colored" under the terminology of the ...
(later ''George Washington Carver High School'') was purchased in 1925. The site, a former four-acre
landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
that was surrounded by warehouses, drew protests over safety and sanitary concerns. The school, however, was opened in 1926, and was the only one ever built exclusively to serve
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
high school students in Arizona. The school was closed 1954, a year after a judge at the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled school segregation in Phoenix high schools was unconstitutional, in the case ''Phillips vs. Phoenix Union High Schools and Junior College District''. PUHS, along with
Carl Hayden High School Carl T. Hayden Community High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located at 3333 W. Roosevelt Street just west of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Carl Hayden's enrollment is 2,209 students, over 93 p ...
and
South Mountain High School South Mountain High School (The Academies at South Mountain) is a high school located in Phoenix, Arizona. The school is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. Overview The school was founded in 1954. The school shares its name with S ...
, took on the bulk of the school district's African American students after desegregation. To this day, Phoenix Union High School District's website makes few references to the school's segregated past, merely stating that Carver High was built to accommodate the district's African American population, and stating that the school closed, following integration.


Expansions

Until 1926, Phoenix Union High School was the school district's only school. By 1939, PUHS' student population reached 5,219, and North High School, the first school not built for the purpose of segregation, opened its doors. Between 1949 and 1957, five additional high schools were built:
Camelback Camelback may refer to: * riding atop a camel * Camelback, a variation of shotgun house with a second floor in the rear of the house. * Camelback (roller coaster element), a hump-shaped hill element found on roller coasters * CamelBackCapitalizatio ...
,
Carl Hayden Carl Trumbull Hayden (October 2, 1877 – January 25, 1972) was an American politician. Representing Arizona in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1969, he was the first U.S. Senator to serve seven terms. Serving as the state's first Representa ...
,
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
,
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
, and South Mountain. Those were followed by
Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...
,
East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
, and Maryvale in the 1960s. Trevor G. Browne opened its doors in 1970s, along with alternative schools Bostrom High and Desiderata Program


Changes

The racial makeup of Phoenix Union High School District schools began to change during the 1950s and 1960s. PUHS' African American and Hispanic population increased during those two decades, and by 1970, the school's
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
population fell to 19.3% of the student body. Despite that rise, PUHS' ethnic minorities had little say in determining and conducting education at the school. Meanwhile, violence between the school's Hispanic and African American population eventually played a large role in everyday school life, with each side blaming the other side. A riot brought on by racial tensions also happened during the 1970s at
South Mountain High School South Mountain High School (The Academies at South Mountain) is a high school located in Phoenix, Arizona. The school is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. Overview The school was founded in 1954. The school shares its name with S ...
.


Closures and lawsuits

In the 1980s, Phoenix Union High School District's board voted to close North High, PUHS, and East High, and West High, due to declining enrollment. As a result of the closures, two lawsuits were filed, accusing the Phoenix Union High School District of discriminating against ethnic minorities and low-income students by closing schools in their neighborhoods, in addition to unfair resource allocations. An
Office for Civil Rights The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education that is primarily focused on enforcing civil rights laws prohibiting schools from engaging in discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex ...
investigation also found that the school district had an open enrollment policy that, while designed to alleviate school overcrowding, resulted in racial imbalance. The school district, according to the investigation, was fully aware of the policy's impact, and, despite numerous recommendations, chose not to take action of the matter. The lawsuits were later consolidated into the ''Castro v. Phoenix Union High School District'' lawsuit. Eventually, a federal judge ruled against the school district. A consent decree followed the ruling, which resulted in the reopening of North High, as well as, among other things, the establishment of magnet programs across the district, continued summer school programs, increased transportation options for students, and the building of two more high schools.


1990s and 2000s

In 1999, Cesar Chavez High School opened its doors, becoming the first Phoenix Union High School to be built in 27 years. Another comprehensive high school,
Betty H. Fairfax High School Betty H. Fairfax is a high school in the Phoenix Union High School District, Laveen, Arizona, United States. The campus is located at 8225 South 59th Ave. Fairfax's enrollment is about 1,678 students. It predominantly serves students from partner ...
, opened in 2007. The 2000s also saw the building of a number of specialty schools. Suns-Diamondbacks Education Academy (since renamed Linda Abril Educational Academy), a school for
at-risk students An at-risk student is a term used in the United States to describe a student who requires temporary or ongoing intervention in order to succeed academically. Richardson, Val, comp. "At-Risk Student Intervention Implementation Guide." The Education ...
, was established in 2001. Franklin Police and Fire High School, a first-of-its-kind public safety-oriented school, opened in 2007. Bioscience High opened in 2006.


2010s

The district was considering whether to open another high school as other high schools were above capacity.


2020s

The district chose to enact a mask mandate in 2021, during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of Arizona in January 2020. As of June 3, 2021 Arizona public health authorities reported 322 new cases of COVID-19 and five deaths, bringing the cumulative totals since the st ...
even though
Governor of Arizona A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey (, né Roscoe Jr.; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 23rd governor of Arizona since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Ducey was previously the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, a c ...
signed a ban against mask mandates on June 30.


Schools


Comprehensive schools

*
Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...
(Phoenix) - opened 1961 *
Bioscience ''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–19 ...
(Phoenix) - opened 2006 * Trevor Browne (Phoenix) - opened 1972 *
Camelback Camelback may refer to: * riding atop a camel * Camelback, a variation of shotgun house with a second floor in the rear of the house. * Camelback (roller coaster element), a hump-shaped hill element found on roller coasters * CamelBackCapitalizatio ...
(Phoenix) - opened 1954 *
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
(Phoenix) - opened 1957 *
César Chávez Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged ...
(Laveen) - opened 1999 * Betty Fairfax (Laveen) - opened 2007 *
Carl Hayden Carl Trumbull Hayden (October 2, 1877 – January 25, 1972) was an American politician. Representing Arizona in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1969, he was the first U.S. Senator to serve seven terms. Serving as the state's first Representa ...
(Phoenix) - opened 1957 * Maryvale (Phoenix) - opened 1963 *
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
(Phoenix) - opened 1939 * South Mountain (Phoenix) - opened 1954 * Metro Tech (Phoenix) - opened 1985


Small and alternative schools

* Linda Abril Educational Academy (Phoenix) - opened 2001 * Bostrom High School (Phoenix) - opened 1976 * Desiderata Program (Phoenix) - opened 1977 * Phoenix Union Bioscience High School (Phoenix) - opened 2006 * Franklin Police and Fire High School (Phoenix) - opened 2007


Former

* George Washington Carver High School (1926-1954) * East High School (1964-1982) *
Phoenix Union High School Phoenix Union High School (PUHS) was a high school that was part of the Phoenix Union High School District in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, one of five high school-only school districts in the Phoenix area. Founded in 1895 and closed in 1992, the ...
(1912-1982) *
Camelback High School Camelback High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located at 4612 North 28th Street, northeast of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Camelback's enrollment is just over 2,000 students, over 75 percent o ...
* West High School (1949-1983)


Feeder elementary school districts

*
Alhambra Elementary School District Alhambra Elementary School District provides education for more than 14,000 students in the Phoenix and Glendale areas of Arizona. Alhambra has 15 schools. These schools educate students from kindergarten to eighth grade. The district feeds i ...
*
Balsz Elementary School District The Balsz Elementary School District #31 is a school district on the east side of Phoenix, Arizona. It currently includes five schools, which are: Pat Tillman Middle School (formerly Balsz Elementary School), established as a one-room school hou ...
*
Cartwright Elementary School District Cartwright Elementary School District is a school district in Phoenix, Arizona, United States which operates 21 schools in the city's Maryvale neighborhood. The district contains twelve K–5 elementary schools, four K–8 elementary schools, fo ...
* Creighton Elementary School District *
Isaac Elementary School District The Isaac Elementary School District (often Isaac School District) is one of several K-8 school districts within the city limits of Phoenix, Arizona. The attendance boundaries are Van Buren Street to the south, 51st Avenue to the west, 19th Avenue ...
*
Laveen Elementary School District The Laveen Elementary School District is the K–8 school district for Laveen, Arizona, Laveen, an area of southwest Phoenix, Arizona, USA. It operates eight schools, serving about 7,200 students in 2018. Laveen ESD is one of 13 elementary scho ...
*
Madison Elementary School District The Madison Elementary School District is an elementary school district in Phoenix, Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most po ...
*
Murphy Elementary School District The Murphy Elementary School District 21 is an elementary school district in Phoenix, Arizona. It operates three K-8 schools and previously operated a fourth. History The district was established on September 16, 1886. It originally used a one ro ...
*
Osborn Elementary School District The Osborn School District #8 is an elementary school district in Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Ariz ...
* Phoenix Elementary School District *
Riverside Elementary School District Riverside Elementary School District #2 is an elementary school district in the southwestern region of Phoenix, Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th l ...
*
Roosevelt Elementary School District The Roosevelt Elementary School District is a public school district located in the Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, w ...
*
Wilson Elementary School District The Wilson Elementary School District is a small elementary school district in Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1, ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control School districts in Phoenix, Arizona School districts in Maricopa County, Arizona School districts established in 1895 1895 establishments in Arizona Territory