The good news at Scottsdale Unified School District, according to a deep-dive demographic study:

“Out-of-district students are being drawn from a very large area, which is a credit to the district and helps preserve neighborhood schools.”

The bad news:

Well, where to begin …

As a lead up to the Dec. 9 meeting, during which the five-person governing board will decide the fate of Pima and Echo Canyon elementary schools, Rick Brammer of consultant Applied Economics gave the SUSD Governing Board a Nov. 18 demographic overview ranging from “ugh” to “ouch.”

In a nutshell: no end in sight for the decline in enrollment over the last decade.

“We're not talking about a small decline,” Brammer emphasized. “We're talking about a substantial one.”

Cold comfort came when Brammer gave his “misery

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