Board Gives Preliminary Approval to Middle School Boundaries
The Board in Study Session preliminarily adopted a boundary map for Canyons District middle schools for final consideration on Dec. 6. Six of the seven members of the Board voted for a Base Middle School Map. An amendment by Board Vice President Sherril Taylor was approved unanimously. With the adjustment, the map is redrawn to include the Sunrise Elementary community into Indian Hills Middle School.
The majority of the Base Middle School Map was developed last spring by the Boundary Steering Committee, which has studied boundary issues since September 2010 in order to better utilize the District’s middle schools and create boundaries for the new high school in Draper.
Board members discussed at length how to maintain balanced enrollments among all middle schools to ensure the schools’ viability into the future. Discussion centered on capacity, safety, transportation, demographics, the school-boundary desires of various neighborhoods, and projected enrollments at the middle schools.
To listen to the Study Session, please visit http://www.boarddocs.com/ut/canyons/Board.nsf/Public, and click on Agenda Item 2C.
Board Action
The Board unanimously voted to adopt the Adjusted Elementary School Boundary Proposal. Members of the Board expressed appreciation to the Boundary Steering Committee, which worked for nearly nine months to develop the proposals.
Click here to see the Board-approved Elementary Boundaries to take effect in the 2013-2014 school year.
The Board voted to approval to High School Boundary Option 1. Four Board members voted in favor of the proposal; three voted against.
Click here to see the Board-approved High School Boundaries to take effect in the 2013-2014 school year.
Three other high school boundary proposals were voted down on 4-to-3 votes. Two of the three, both proposed by Paul McCarty, would have included more Draper neighborhoods in the new high school. The other, proposed by Kevin Cromar, would have included a section of Sandy in the Brighton High School boundary instead of the boundary for Jordan High School.
In addition, the Board approved the Consent Agenda, which includes the approval of minutes from the Nov. 1 Board meeting; the approval of purchasing bids; overnight travel requests for the Choir and Softball teams at Alta High School; October financial reports, Board hires and terminations, and Copperview Elementary’s School Improvement Plan.
The Board agreed to discuss the proposed names, mascot and colors of the new high school at an upcoming Board meeting.
Patron Comments
Ten patrons addressed the Board on issues relating to school boundaries. Several patrons made requests for the boundaries to include sections of west Draper in the new high school and to delay the vote on the boundaries for further study. Several patrons also asked the Board to consider building a new middle school in Draper instead of using money from the bond issuance to renovate Mt. Jordan Middle. One patron told the Board she worries about the safety of Hillcrest students if the school is at or above capacity. One patron urged the Board to adopt a boundary for middle schools that would place the Sunrise Elementary community into Indian Hills Middle.
To listen to the comments, visit http://www.boarddocs.com/ut/canyons/Board.nsf/Public, and click on Agenda Item 7A.
Superintendent Report
Dr. David Doty told the Board about his question-and-answer visits to faculties throughout the District. The most recent meetings, which he described as very productive, were at Brighton High and Edgemont and Brookwood elementary schools. Dr. Doty also told the Board he accompanied Evidence-Based Learning language specialist Ofelia Wade to a meeting with the Honorary General Consul for Germany and representatives with the Austrian government who would like Canyons to begin a German-English dual-immersion language program. The Superintendent also told the Board he has asked Jeff Christensen, Canyons’ Coordinator of Policy Research, to immediately begin work on bolstering the District’s policy governing adult-to-student contact. He also wants the policy to address reporting protocols. The Superintendent told the Board the recent Penn State child-abuse allegations served as a catalyst to request the strengthened policies.
Board Reports
Steve Wrigley reported that he attended the recent funeral of a Jordan High School student. Dr. Doty reported that our Crisis Team responds to provide counseling services to students in response to such tragedies. Mr. Wrigley attended the Adolescent Issues Night at Union Middle School, and saw Brighton’s musical, “Once Upon an Island.”
Kim Horiuchi thanked the organizers of Midvale Middle’s Reality Town, which she recently attended. She also reported on a meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board, which she attended on behalf of the Board.
Mr. Cromar reported on this attendance at the quarterly Arts Consortium meeting. He also attended “Once Upon an Island,” Brighton’s fall musical, and complimented the student actors who performed in the production. He commended the Alta girls soccer team for winning the state championship, and lauded player Michele Murphy for her 5A MVP honor from The Salt Lake Tribune.
Mont Millerberg, President Tracy Cowdell, Mr. Taylor and Dr. McCarty did not have reports for the Board.
