The Tooele County School Board is considering the fate of 88-year-old Vernon Elementary School and the 22 students who attend school there.
Among the possibilities is a staff recommendation that the board consider closing the school and bus the students from Vernon to Dugway.
The staff report on Vernon Elementary was on the board’s information and discussion agenda during its Tuesday meeting.
Around 60 Vernon residents filled one-half of the School Board meeting room at the district office Tuesday night to show support for keeping their school open.
“Our community is very concerned about this issue,” said Elizabeth Olson, Vernon resident.
Olson said she was concerned that the proposed 4-day school week for Dugway School (see related front-page story) would mean that, including transportation time, students from Vernon would be leave for school at 6:30 a.m. and return home at 5 p.m.
Academically, Olson said she doesn’t see why shipping Vernon students to Dugway School makes sense.
Dugway School received an F grade from the state in the latest round of school grades, according to Olson.
“Obviously, further assessment needs to be made before a final conclusion can be reached,” Olson said. “There is not an obvious gain to be had by sending our students to the lowest graded elementary school in the district. This is not beneficial for our children.”
Vernon Mayor Bruce Thomas asked the School Board to involve Vernon residents in finding alternatives to closing the community’s school.
“We need time to explore why your people made the recommendation they did,” Thomas said. “We would like the opportunity to be involved in that process to see if there are better solutions than sending our students to Dugway School. This matter is going to affect our community. Busing elementary children for an hour plus in each direction is not an option for some parents. Those parents are going to have to decide whether or not they wish to continue to reside in Vernon if the school is not present.”
Thomas said that as he left his home for the board meeting he saw the headline in the Transcript Bulletin about the opening of the new Sterling Elementary School.
“I find it ironic that the oldest school in the district, which produced an amazing number of fine people, is being considered for closure,” Thomas said. “There has to be another solution. We would like to work with you to find that solution.”
Nobody argued that Vernon Elementary School is not old. Built in 1929, the same year that the Tooele County School District lifted its ban on hiring married women as teachers, the three-room Vernon School building still has a coal-fired furnace and a steeple to house a bell.
According to the school district’s master facility plan, on a scale of one to 100, Vernon Elementary’s building rates 36.3. The district average is 65.6.
Facility-wise, the building needs a seismic upgrade, including reinforcing the bell tower; the restrooms and playground equipment need to be brought up to American with Disability Act requirements; the school’s lighting needs to be upgraded; the coal furnace needs to be replaced; the exterior masonry needs repair; the attic needs insulation; and the irrigation system needs to be upgraded, according to the school district’s facilities report.
Vernon residents at Tuesday’s School Board meeting suggested building a new school or using portables.
“Can the current building be remodeled to be up to code?” asked Afton Mannino, a parent of a Vernon School student. “What about building a new building? Are portables an alternative? Are there grants we can apply for to mitigate costs?”
A rough estimate of replacing Vernon Elementary, prepared by the school district’s operations staff, shows a $2.3 million price-tag on a new school building. Factoring in inflation, depending on when the building is built, replacing Vernon Elementary somewhere in the next five years could cost between $2.4 and $2.8 million.
Utah State School Board staff estimates that closing Vernon and busing the students to Dugway would result in a loss of $172,552 annually in revenue to the school district from the state’s Necessary Existent Small School program, according to Lark Reynolds, the school district’s business administrator.
Rounding up the cost of a new Vernon Elementary to $3 million, the annual depreciation over the usual expected lifespan of 50 years would be $60,000, according to Reynolds.
Academically, the enrollment at Vernon is currently 22 students. The students are organized into two classrooms. The kindergarten through second grade class has 13 students and third through sixth grade has nine students.
Tintic School District has an elementary school in Eureka near the Juab and Tooele County line that is 25 miles southeast of Vernon. Eureka Elementary School has 92 students in a building built in 1995.
The drive to Eureka from Vernon is 26 minutes compared to an hour and six minutes for the drive from Vernon to Dugway using state Routes 36 and 199, according to Google Maps.
With 14 elementary students and 24 secondary students from Vernon choosing to attend school in Eureka, the Tintic School District currently sends a bus to Vernon, according to Mark Ernst, Tooele County School District area director.
Vernon parents that send their children to Eureka cite the 4-day school week in Tintic School District and no split-grade classes as reasons for their choice, according to the school district’s staff report on Vernon Elementary.
“We need to reach out to those parents and see what we can do to bring them back to our district,” said Carol Jensen, School Board member.
Vernon residents already have one ally on the School Board.
“My recommendation would be not to close the school,” said Scott Bryan. “We should look at the school, look at options, but closure in not an option.”
School Board Chairwoman Maressa Manzione charged Ernst to gather a committee of school staff and include input from Vernon residents to prepare a report that looks at all options, including closure, to be discussed at the School Board’s January meeting.
“This is frankly a board decision,” said Manzione. “It’s our decision and we have directed or asked for this information so we can make that decision.”
A public hearing would be held before any decision to close a school, Manzione said.