Phoenix school that serves refugee families could shut down amid Trump ban

The Alhambra Elementary School District is considering closing a campus that serves refugee families from across the globe.

In 2023, Valencia Newcomer School in Phoenix served 140 K-8th graders who came from 22 different countries and spoke 18 different languages. Now, the school is down to 23 students.

Valencia works with resettlement agencies to take in families who are new to the United States.

Principal Lynette Wegner said right now, that’s not happening because of a Trump administration ban on refugee admissions.

“With our model, our students stay with us for one academic year and then they transition to their homeschools," Wegner said. "So because we have not received any new families this year, as we transition our students, we're not getting new students.”

Since there won’t be any students to serve next year, Wegner said it’s not financially responsible for the school to remain open.

The district has scheduled a public hearing on the closure for later this month. KJZZ asked if Valencia could return if policies change in the next few years. To that, Wegner said:

"I would love it, but I also feel like we've learned a lot," Wegner said. "We're able to now train our teachers and staff throughout our district to support the needs that we, that we identified these last eight years."