Boundary Proposals Discussed, Not Yet Firmed Up

The Board of Education postponed plans to solidify a final boundary proposal for public comment for two more weeks. The postponement came to allow time to study Board Member Paul McCarty’s Tuesday proposal to include more Draper residents in the new high school boundary, and to ensure all Board Members were present for the action. Board President Tracy Scott Cowdell was excused to attend to a family matter.

The Board discussed an adjusted middle school proposal that’s a hybrid of preferred options presented by the Boundary Steering Committee in the spring. It makes it so Middle School Option 2 includes the Crescent View and Indian Hills boundaries contained in Middle School Option 1.

Board members Kevin Cromar and Steve Wrigley asked staff to work up another draft that would address Granite Elementary parent requests to attend Albion and Brighton instead of Eastmont and Jordan, and Alta View parent requests to keep attending Eastmont instead of Mount Jordan. Maps reflecting these requests, and related data, will be presented to the Board on Nov. 1.

To listen to the Study Session, please visit http://www.boarddocs.com/ut/canyons/Board.nsf/Public and click item 1C.

In related news, 28 patrons offered public comment to the Board regarding the Boundary proposals. Most said they wanted the Board to keep students together as they moved from elementary to middle and high schools.

Residents of west Draper presented a petition, and asked to be drawn into boundaries closer to home, including the new high school, so they don’t pass neighborhood schools en route to boundary schools and incur additional transportation costs. Several of these patrons also supported Dr. McCarty’s proposal. Two patrons asked the Board to keep students in a Sunrise Elementary neighborhood west of Pepperwood with their friends at Indian Hills Middle School. Patrons living near the gully asked that they remain in Eastmont Middle School boundaries instead of Mount Jordan because of concerns about safe walking routes and proximity to home. Pepperwood residents asked the Board to keep the community together and leave them in Indian Hills Middle School boundaries where they understood their children could directly feed into the Chinese Dual Immersion program; one offered to fund a bus for her neighbors to attend private and out-of-district schools if boundary proposals didn’t change.

To hear patron comments, please visit http://www.boarddocs.com/ut/canyons/Board.nsf/Public and click on item 3E.

Board Recognizes Employees, State Champs

The Board recognized Alta Boys Golf, which won the 5A State Championship, as well as Coach Rick Dittman and Kenny You, who won the individual state title. The team signed a Hawks golf shirt to place in the Board’s Canyons Achieve trophy case, to be located at the District Office. The Board also honored Brent Boswell, Jordan High CTE Coordinator and Outstanding Career and Technical Educator by the Family and Consumer Sciences Division of the Utah Association of Career and Technical Education; and Albion Middle School Assistant Principal Nicole Svee Magann, who earned prestigious “double-diamond” coach status from the National Forensic League. Both employees are featured in the Canyons Employees Achieve hall of fame.

Board Action

The Board approved the Consent Agenda, which includes the Oct. 4 minutes; purchasing bids; home school affidavit report; financial reports; hire and termination reports; and agreement with East Jordan Irrigation. It also approved overnight student travel for Alta Girls Basketball and Boys Soccer; Brighton Cross Country; Hillcrest Baseball; and Jordan Drill.

The Board approved the state-required consolidated application for state and federal funding (click item 6A). It gave the nod to convene an ad hoc committee of teachers and employees to propose ways to consolidate the District’s curriculum policy to improve navigation and consistency.

High School Naming Update

Some 650 people, mostly living in Draper and Sandy but some as far as Texas and Maryland, have offered online suggestions for the new high school’s name, colors and mascot. Proposals include Hogwarts High, Corner Canyon High, and Carpe Diem High. Public input will be taken through Nov. 8. A community committee will present recommendations to the Board Nov. 15, and students in the new school’s boundaries will vote on the mascot and colors, to be announced, tentatively, at the Dec. 6 Board Meeting.

Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent David Doty announced that Alta Girls Soccer advanced today to the 5A State Championship following a 3-0 shutout of Davis. The championship is to be held Friday at 7 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Board Reports
 
Mont Millerberg went to Moab last weekend to attend an active shooter demonstration to help police and schools train for emergencies, and called it a worthwhile event.

Paul McCarty attended the Sandy Chamber’s Titan Awards with Canyons employees, and recommended Canyons representatives attend annually.

Kevin Cromar announced he has been nominated to the Executive Committee of the National Federation of Urban and Suburban School Districts (NFUSSD) at last week’s NFUSSD national conference in Davis County. He noted he talked there about Canyons’ Common Core State Standards brochures, and praised Jeff Haney and Jennifer Toomer-Cook’s boundaries presentation at the conference. He enjoyed the NFUSSD tour of Endeavour Elementary, which partners with NASA and where all students have laptop computers, and the Stewart Elementary Chinese Immersion program that starts in kindergarten. He also attended the Middle School Intramurals Cross Country Meet Saturday, which he lauded for growing by about 20 percent each year, and joined Haney in giving awards to student winners.

Kim Horiuchi attended the Utah School Boards Association Board of Directors’ instructional meeting, and expressed concern about a presentation on the state’s plans for teacher evaluations. She also attended the NFUSSD conference, and praised tours of Davis District’s central nutrition services facility, where meals are prepared on site; Centennial School, designed by VCBO Architects, which designed the new Butler Middle School; and South Weber Elementary, which has separate buildings for grades k-2 and 3-6 as an enrollment solution. She also viewed a presentation about demographics, showing women and ethnic minorities for the first time in 2010 became the majority of the workforce, which will necessitate a change in how we deliver education. She noted Salt Lake County Recreation is offering a golf analysis program, which could be extended to students in Canyons ““ home to the 5A State Golf Champions — in a potential partnership.

Steve Wrigley said he is excited about the possibility of an active shooter demonstration, in which his son enjoyed participating last summer.

Vice President Sherril Taylor thanked the Board and Administration for a productive evening.