Drawing school boundaries isn’t easy, according to JoAnn Coon, Tooele County School District director of elementary education.
Coon presented the report of the school district’s boundary advisory committee to the school board Tuesday night at the school district office.
“There were challenges with this committee,” Coon said. “Tough, tough things came up.”
Prior to Coon’s report, the school board had already heard from three parents of students in the Spanish dual language immersion program at Middle Canyon Elementary during the public forum part of the school board’s meeting.
Concerned that the boundary committee looked at options that would move their DLI program from Middle Canyon Elementary to Copper Canyon Elementary, the parents urged the board to consider options to keep the DLI program at Middle Canyon.
“It has been suggested that DLI students are out of boundary students,” said Missy Murdock. “I can assure you this is not the case. Each of the students chose to give up their home school when they enrolled in this program … it [their DLI school] is as much their home as it is for a student that lives three houses away from the school.”
The boundary committee looked at many options and took into consideration the capacity of schools, neighborhood proximity to schools, minimizing future transitions for students, safety of students and respect for the school district’s feeder school concept in regards secondary school boundaries, according to Coon.
“There were also many unknowns,” she said.
Among the unknowns were the effect of the opening on a new charter school in Stansbury Park and the expansion of a charter school in Erda, according to Coon.
Forecasting growth is also difficult, she said.
“We got information from the county planner,” Coon said. “But how fast will the homes be built? How many children will the families have and what ages will they be?”
The boundary committee first looked at the boundaries for Sterling Elementary, and the amalgamation of East Elementary and Harris Elementary schools on the southeast side of Tooele City.
Currently housed in the former Harris Elementary building and augmented by a collection of portables, the new Sterling Elementary building is scheduled to open in the winter of 2017. The boundary committee recommended leaving the boundary for Sterling untouched, according to Coon.
On the north end of the county, the construction of Old Mill Elementary School is on target for a fall 2017 opening.
The boundary committee proposed three boundary plans for the board to consider for Old Mill. The plans also affect other school boundaries on the north end of the county.
Option A sends students from Lake Point, Millpond, the Soelberg’s area, and Crystal Bay Drive to Old Mill Elementary.
Students currently bussed from Delgada, Schooner and Fireside Lanes, along with Bayshore Drive, Spring Street, and Elizabeth Streets, would be bussed to Rose Springs Elementary.
Students west of Parkview and north of Christopher Street to Village Boulevard would continue to be bussed to Stansbury Park Elementary.
Students within walking distance of Rose Springs and Stansbury Park Elementary schools would continue to walk those schools.
There would be no changes to Overlake Elementary boundary’s under Option A, but parents of students in the development on the southwest corner of Bates Canyon Road and state Route 36 could send their students to Rose Springs through the open enrollment process.
Option B for Old Mill Elementary would add the students currently bussed from Delgada, Schooner and Fireside Lanes, along with Bayshore Drive, Spring Street, and Elizabeth Streets to Old Mill Elementary School to the Option A boundary.
The students from middle Erda, between Bates Canyon Road and 2400 North, would be moved from Overlake Elementary to Rose Springs Elementary under Option B.
Option C for schools on the north end of the county would be similar to Option B, but students from middle Erda, between SR-36 and 1200 West and Bates Canyon Road and Overlake, would stay at Overlake Elementary.
Old Mill Elementary, with a capacity of 850 students, would open with an estimated 425 students under Option A, 526 under Option B, and 525 under Option C, to allow for anticipated growth from developments underway in Lake Point and north of state Route 138 in Stansbury Park, according to Coon.
On the north end of Tooele City, the return of students from the Gristmill area to Stansbury Park schools that were bussed to Copper Canyon Elementary leaves room for more students at Copper Canyon Elementary.
However, Middle Canyon Elementary has too many students in their building, according to Coon.
Adjusting Middle Canyon Elementary’s boundaries proved challenging, Coon said.
One of the first things to look at when it comes to boundary changes is moving students that are already being bussed to a school. However, none of Middle Canyon Elementary’s students are bussed in, Coon said.
Looking at neighborhoods on the border between Middle Canyon Elementary and Copper Canyon Elementary schools, the boundary committee could not find a reasonable boundary change that would make a big enough impact on Middle Canyon Elementary’s enrollment, according to Coon.
The boundary committee suggested three different proposals to adjust Copper Canyon Elementary and Middle Canyon Elementary boundaries.
Option A would require no boundary adjustment, however the Spanish DLI program would be transitioned over a three-year period to Copper Canyon Elementary.
Option B involves moving the entire Spanish DLI program from Middle Canyon Elementary to Copper Canyon Elementary at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. This option also would move the students in the apartments and condos behind Wal-Mart from Copper Canyon Elementary to Middle Canyon Elementary.
Option C leaves the Spanish DLI program at Middle Canyon Elementary, but the students in the Carr Fork subdivision that currently walk to Middle Canyon Elementary would be bussed to Copper Canyon Elementary.
The school board decided to accept all six boundary proposals for additional consideration. A public hearing will be held on March 8 at 7 p.m. The location of the hearing will determined and published later.
The school board plans to make a decision on the school boundaries at their March 14 regular board meeting.
Maps and additional information on the boundary proposals can be viewed on the school district website at www.tooeleschools.org.