Canyons to Create Boundary Steering Committee

The Board gave the green light to create a Boundary Steering Committee. The committee will examine school boundaries and address issues outlined by the 2009 Enrollment and Facilities Task Force. The committee will recommend potential boundary changes to the Board for implementation in the 2013-2014 school year.

The 26-member Boundary Steering Committee will include broad community representation and examine school boundaries districtwide. It will consist of 16 parents, four from each of the four high school areas (two from elementary schools and one each from middle and high schools); two school secretaries, three teachers and three principals representing elementary and secondary schools; and District Transportation Director Ken Spurlock and Facilities Director Rick Conger.  The committee will be supported by four, non-voting District administrators.

The steering committee will meet Wednesdays from 4 — 5 p.m. at the Canyons Administration Building, 9150 S. 500 West in Sandy, beginning later this month. Meetings will be open to the public, and agendas and summaries will be posted at www.canyonsdistrict.org. Town Hall meetings also will be scheduled, and community input will be taken via e-mail to communications@canyonsdistrict.org. While the committee could forward recommendations to the Board as early as January, potential boundary changes would not take effect until the 2013-2014 school year to allow plenty of time to disseminate information and address busing and related matters.

The steering committee will follow up on the work of the Enrollment and Facilities Task Force, which met from April to September 2009. The task force, which consisted of parents representing every Canyons school, recommended school boundaries be examined districtwide to address a number of issues, including ending pocket busing (busing students from crowded schools in the south to less full schools outside of their neighborhoods); cleaning up high school feeder systems; maximizing current building use; and balancing middle school enrollments.

The Steering Committee comes as part of the Board’s commitment to community engagement, and forwards its career- and college-ready Academic Plan. The Academic Plan includes optional career- and college-ready diplomas; reconfiguring grades to create k-5, 6-8 and 9-12 schools; and upgrading facilities and building a new high school in Draper with a $250 million voter-approved bond to support students in their preparation for college and the workforce.

The Board is expected to vote to officially create the committee, and give the committee additional guiding principles, on Sept. 21.

Facility Upgrade Bids Dubbed ‘Exciting’

Architectural firms are submitting “innovative” and “exciting” bids on the first five projects of the $250 million bond voters approved last June, CFO Keith Bradford said. A District committee will do site visits before forwarding its recommendations, possibly as early as Sept. 21.

Customer Service Call Center Deemed Successful

Superintendent David Doty reported the District’s temporary customer service call center took more than 2,000 inquiries from the community in the first two weeks of school. He commended Communications Associate Director Jeff Haney and Staff Assistant Laura Minson for their leadership.

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