Pierson Vocational High School will be open for business next year, Superintendent Shawn McCollough told the governing board of the Nogales Unified School District No. 1 on May 11.

Joel Kramer

“Pierson is not an item we’re considering closing,” McCollough said. “We have some very positive ideas about how we can increase the range of options.”

Pierson students, staff and parents became alarmed when McCollough proposed a “restructuring” of Pierson during an April 6 budget session. The district was seeking ways to cope with a large cut in state funding for the 2009-2010 school year. With no firm figures yet from the Legislature, the staff drew up a list of possible cuts to cope with a 6 percent reduction in funds.

“When we put all these items up, we were facing a huge cut from the Legislature,” McCollough said on May 11.

He had proposed shifting some of the vocational courses to Nogales High School and sending more suspended students to Pierson to complete their courses. This “restructuring” could save an estimated $342,915, McCollough said.

But the public may have misinterpreted the proposal to mean, “they’re going to cut the teachers, they’re going to close the school,” he said. “We just wanted to be honest and open. I still think that was the right decision, to have the public forums.”

At the April 13 meeting, several students and parents appealed to the governing board to keep Pierson open.

Pierson Principal Joel Kramer was demoted to the position of program director at the April 13 meeting, but reinstated as principal on May 11, he said.

When he met recently with district staff, they talked about a program for at-risk middle school students, Kramer said. Currently, about five middle school students attend Pierson under the in-school (ISS) suspension program.

Students at risk, but not in trouble, could transfer to Pierson where one teacher would work to get them back on track, Kramer said.

Would bringing in more students with discipline problems affect Pierson students who are motivated to graduate?

“That’s not an issue at all,” Kramer said. “Ninety-nine percent of our students want to be successful.”

At Pierson, students experience “positive peer pressure,” Kramer said. “We have students who were gang members a few years ago who are now student leaders.”

Scholarships for students who graduate early will still be available next year, Kramer said, after checking with the Arizona Department of Education. Currently Pierson has 132 students enrolled. Another 20 have graduated and will walk in the ceremony on May 19.

“Everything will be the same for Pierson,” Kramer said. “We’re just going to keep getting bigger and better. More and more students are finding out that’s it’s �- a positive experience for them.”