Note: Recordings and documents for agenda items can be accessed via Diligent by clicking on the corresponding agenda items.

Boundary and Enrollment Decision 

The Board of Education voted to consolidate the Ridgecrest and Bella Vista elementary school communities to create a new school community of approximately 600 students. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, students who now live within the Bella Vista boundaries will be assigned to Ridgecrest, which is less than a mile away from the Bella Vista building, as their boundary school. The Bella Vista facility will be closed as an elementary school but will remain a District asset. Also, according to the endorsed recommendation, busing will be provided for students who now live in Bella Vista boundaries. In a presentation to the Board in advance of the vote, Business Administrator Leon Wilcox said that open-enrollment permits will be carefully monitored so that the school does not exceed capacity. To ensure the accommodation of students coming from Bella Vista, current Ridgecrest students who live west of 1300 East will be assigned to East Midvale Elementary, starting next year. That move will bolster East Midvale’s potential enrollment to 540 and better align with Midvale Middle boundaries. Included in the approved proposal is the move of the Bella Vista ABS classrooms to Brookwood Elementary. Special Education Director Terri Mitchell said Bella Vista preschool students will merge with other local classrooms, and new classrooms will open at Oak Hollow. CSD will now put together a Transition Committee to guide the consolidation of Ridgecrest and Bella Vista. The school administration also will soon be announced. The Administration’s plan to consolidate Bella Vista and Ridgecrest calls for contracted licensed staff, including teachers, an instructional coach, social worker, and psychologist, to be guaranteed a job. Staff will be placed the combined Bella Vista-Ridgecrest, East Midvale, or other Canyons schools, according to policy.  All contracted ESP staff also will be guaranteed a position, according to the Board’s directive. Staff will be placed at combined Bella Vista/Ridgecrest, or other Canyons schools, according to policy. Hourly ESP positions will have priority placement in the District. Employees in the ABS unit will follow the unit to Brookwood Elementary. The Board also voted to change boundaries so that all Brookwood students will attend Albion Middle and assign Oakdale students living east of Highland to attend Albion. Board members also voted to bounder students who live in the Quarry Bend area north of 9000 South from Glacier Hills into East Sandy Elementary to align with Union Middle’s boundary.  In addition, the Board opted to realign the feeders for Oakdale. This reduces the secondary boundary-assignments of the Oakdale community from four to two — Albion leading to Brighton and Union leading to Hillcrest. This will require some students who currently attend Brighton to attend Hillcrest and vice versa. 

Strategic Plan 

The Board discussed items being studied by the subcommittee focusing on issues related to the “Operating Systems” section of the Strategic Plan. The committee has been hard at work on such topics as enrollment, boundaries, school safety, communication needs, the rollout of the Qmlativ information system to replace Skyward, and technology use in classrooms and at home. The committee also regularly reviews the input gathered during the Superintendent’s Listening Tour.  As part of the committee-work update, Business Administrator Leon Wilcox presented information about this fall’s obligatory transfers, which required involuntarily moves of educators due to enrollment projections that did not materialize. Wilcox said the recent 11 obligatory transfers — often called “OTs” — were done to ensure every school has the right number of teachers based on enrollments, programs, and student needs. Canyons followed policy in conducting the obligatory transfers, which are a common practice among Salt Lake Valley school districts. In previous years, the District opted to forgo such transfers and covered the cost of the personnel, even if the school did not have the enrollment that justified the cost. The update also noted CSD’s community conversation regarding the use of technology in classrooms, which has been a big concern among some CSD parents. Canyons’ technology-related initiatives include the launch of the Technology Connect portal that links families with safety and digital citizenship tips. CSD also began notifying parents when their students searched used a school-managed Chromebook for terms that could be related to violence or self-harm. Parents in Canyons also can modify Internet filtering settings on their student’s Chromebook and monitor the amount of time their student is logged into their Chromebook each day. As part of the re-thinking of technology use in class, teachers have been directed to eliminate Chromebook “free use” in class, and the District surveyed parents, teachers and principals, and empaneled a parent-led advisory committee, on preferred Chromebook filtering practices in elementary schools.  The Board also was given information about the Superintendent’s Listening Tour, which was started in 2023 to engage employes in conversation about the work and learning environments.  The Listening Tour has prompted such employee-friendly initiatives as extra planning time for elementary teachers, the addition of more elementary assistant principals, child care for CSD personnel, and expanded maternity leave policies.  

Annual Comprehensive Financial Report

Business Administrator Leon Wilcox presented the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which indicates an unassigned general fund balance of some $32.6 million. That has gone up from last year’s tally of $25.4 million. The District also has set aside $20.4 million— the maximum amount allowed by law — for economic stabilization. CSD also has kept a constant assigned general fund balance, which is currently $7.4 million. Furthermore, Wilcox said, when many governments nationwide are struggling to fund their retirement plans, the Board has committed general fund resources at 105 percent of the accrued actuarial liability from the most recent actuarial study to fund its retirement benefit plan. Canyons retired $31 million in general-obligation building bonds and $3.2 million in lease-revenue bonds during 2025. According to the report, CSD’s Capital Outlay Fund expenditures totaled $103 million, which is $68.5 million more than the previous year. This is because of the current construction projects at Jordan, Hillcrest and Corner Canyon high schools and Eastmont, Albion and Indian Hills middle schools. In addition, lease-revenue bonds were issued Dec.17, 2024, totaling $56.9 million, including premiums, to acquire the former regional headquarters of eBay in Draper. Canyons has sold surplus property, as well.  Some 11.7 acres in Draper were sold for $5.4 million. CSD also received $4.8 million from the sale of 10.4 acres where the old Midvale Elementary stood before the construction of the new school adjacent to Midvale Middle. Additionally, $1.3 million in proceeds were received for the year ended June 30, 2025, due to a resale agreement from the sale of land in Draper in the year ended June 30, 2024. As of the close of the current fiscal year, the District’s governmental funds reported combined ending fund balances of $140.6 million, a decrease of $4.2 million. Most of this decrease is due to spending down capital funds on construction projects. Actual revenues were $2.0 million, or 0.5 percent less than budgeted, for the General Fund. This variance primarily results from expenditure-driven state and federal grants that will be utilized in future years. Actual expenditures were $7.4 million, or 1.9 percent less than the amount budgeted. Lower-than-anticipated state and federal expenditures explain the majority of the variance. However, it is also explained by conservative budgeting practices of planning on full capacity level staffing and paying maximum benefits to all benefit eligible employees. At the end of the current fiscal year, the unassigned fund balance in the General Fund decreased by $0.5 million to $32.6 million representing 8.3 percent of General Fund expenditures. 

Patron Comment 

The following patrons addressed the Board during Patron Comment. Recordings of the remarks can be accessed on Diligent:

• Jake Garfield 
• Jeanette Knight 
• Sarah Knight 
• Isaac Corcoran 

Consent Agenda 

The Board of Education approved the Consent Agenda, including the minutes of the Nov. 11, 2025 meeting of the Board of Education; hire and termination reports; purchasing bids; the Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports and Related Audit Reports; membership of the District Sex Education Instruction Committee Members; proposed academic calendars for the 2026-2027 school year and tentative approval for 2027-2028 and 2028-2029 school calendars.

School Highlights 

Willow Springs Elementary Principal Anne Hansen says the Wildcats wear purple with pride. Willow Springs’ community supports the school by attending performances, assemblies, and special learning nights. “They show up,” said Hansen, who added that students at Willow Springs have plenty of opportunities to learn and grow, especially in the arts. Thanks to a focus on arts integration, she said, the school has a choir, orchestra, and a book club, among other extra- and co-curriculars.  Hansen also reported that 77 percent of Willow Springs Wildcats are reading above benchmark levels on assessments. She also thanked the Board for investing in assistant principal positions, and lauded AP Amber Rock for her hard work at the school this year.  

Superintendent, Business Administrator Report 

Superintendent Dr. Robins said the “silver lining” of the public-input process on the Boundary and Enrollment Study is that we’ve seen how invested communities are in their neighborhood school. Robins emphasized that the conversation related to school-consolidations in Canyons is because of declining enrollments — and certainly not academic performance. He thanked the Board for their efforts to dialogue and consider input from the community. 

Wilcox said the process related to closing a school is challenging and emotional. He also noted the pending retirement of Human Resources Director Steve Dimond, who will step down at the end of this school year. Dimond was one of the founding administrators of the Canyons District. 

Board Member Reports 

Ms. Holly Neibaur thanked Dimond for his contributions to Canyons. She also remarked on the work done by the Long-Range Planning Committee on the school-consolidation and boundary changes approved by the Board. She commented on the outstanding leadership of Board President Amber Shill. She also commented on the proposal to consolidate Park Lane and Willow Canyon. 

Mr. Jackson Lewis reported on attending a meeting to connect the Midvale community with health and human-services resources, especially in light of the recent federal immigration actions and reduced funding for social programs.

Mr. Andrew Edtl reported on attending a musical performance by the Glacier Hills choir at a local mortuary. He also remarked on recent discussions by the Board and Administration to strengthen the Eastmont-Jordan feeder.  

Mrs. Amanda Oaks commented on attending Corner Canyon’s production of “Mary Poppins” and Alta’s “Hadestown.”  She congratulated the Corner Canyon football team for winning the 6A championship and wished the Chargers much luck at the Dec. 10 game in Baltimore. She also attended Superintendent Listening Tour stops and a summit focused on Artificial Intelligence. 

Ms. Katie Dahle remarked on attending the AI summit, as well. She also noted that other Utah districts are looking to Canyons to serve as a model for the creation of Peer Courts. Dahle also commented on the Boundary and Enrollment recommendations, including the proposal to consolidate Willow Canyon and Park Lane elementary schools. 

Mrs. Karen Pedersen noted the Board of Education has completed “Master Board” certification of the Utah School Boards Association. She also highlighted the holiday giving by Life Skills Academy, which gave hundreds of food items to Entrada, CSD’s adult high school and “Friends”-themed days at Eastmont.  She also commented on the holiday giving efforts of CSD schools. 

President Amber Shill remarked on an audit of CSD’s information systems and reported on the dedication of a historical monument near Butler Elementary. President Shill also expressed appreciation for Dimond for his contributions to the creation and success of Canyons. She also commented on the process to review proposals regarding boundary changes and school consolidations. She emphasized Canyons District’s efforts to strengthen the Eastmont-Jordan feeder. CSD has recently invested a significant amount of money to improve both the Eastmont and Jordan facilities.  A study may be warranted to develop a plan to bolster the enrollments of the schools.