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Governing Board: Chrystal Chaffin, Dawn Densmore, Jo Grant, Christine A.K. Pritchard, Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil February 22, 2021 Chair Martin Crosby Planning & Zoning Commission City of El Mirage 10000 N El Mirage Rd El Mirage, AZ 85335 RE: Catholic Charities Westside Head Start application at 12800 W Varney Rd Chair Crosby, Catholic Charities and Dysart Unified School District (DUSD) have entered into a lease agreement to allow a Head Start program and associated improvements to be constructed and operated on district property. As you know Catholic Charities must meet all requirements with the City of El Mirage in order to construct this facility in the lease area. Of course these are decisions made within the City’s processes. The district wishes to provide some context to Catholic Charities’ application, related to student enrollment at our neighboring schools. Earlier in the school year the district approved boundary and school configuration changes to allow for middle schools. These changes affect eight schools including grade K-8 schools El Mirage Elementary and Dysart Elementary. Beginning this upcoming 2021-2022 school year their boundaries merge into one single boundary. Grade K-4 students will attend El Mirage Elementary and grade 5-8 students will attend Dysart Middle School. These changes allow for maximizing facility use and efficiencies, and provide new academic and programming options. The changes at Dysart Elementary School will eliminate the existing preschool. As of February 19th there are 40 preschool students at Dysart Elementary. Preschool programs at El Mirage Elementary will remain open in 21-22. Current enrollment at Dysart Elementary is 805 K-8 students. In the three previous years enrollment was generally between 800 and 850. Forecasted enrollment for the 2021-2022 school year at Dysart Middle School is 732. This number could vary, and online learning among other factors may change enrollment in the future. The main reason for the forecasted decrease is due to El Mirage Elementary hosting 5 grades (K-4) plus preschool and Dysart Middle School hosting 4 grades (5-8). Dysart High School enrollment has remained under 1800 but generally between 1500-1600 students in the last several years. This year there are fewer students on campus as some continue with remote learning. Post pandemic there may be interest for some students to continue online learning. Governing Board: Chrystal Chaffin, Dawn Densmore, Jo Grant, Christine A.K. Pritchard, Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil The district appreciates the opportunity to comment on projects, and our continued partnership with the City of El Mirage. Based on our projections it appears the Dysart Elementary (Middle School in 21-22) site will experience a net decrease in students and staff on the site even with the addition of the Catholic Charities Head Start project if approved. It is our hope this contextual information will help the Planning & Zoning Commission make informed decisions including traffic generation, compatible uses, and the project overall. Please reach out for any questions you may have. Sincerely, Kevin Shipman Planning Administrator Dysart Unified School District p: 623-876-7976 a: 15802 N Parkview Place, Surprise, AZ 85374 w: www.dysart.org e: kevin.shipman@dysart.org