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Ed Yeates ReportingMany parents embroiled in a controversial school closing in the Granite District are refusing to move their kids to another school because they say it would collapse in an earthquake.
Meadowmoore Elementary is at the center of this debate. By the Granite District's own standards for measuring seismic safety in a school building, Meadowmoore is considered safe. Though the building is old, its construction gives it enough strength to most likely withstand shaking.
But as the school board debated population and boundary changes,it elected to close Meadowmoore and move part of the student ody to Hillview Elementary. The Granite School District labels Hillview seismically unsafe -- hazardous for kids. Parents are rebelling.
Marianne Ricks , Parent: "I personally am going to send my kids to the safest school, which is further from the closest school, which isn't safe."
Tonya Orbezua, Parent: "I don't want my children in a school that is not safe. This is a fantastic school. It's safe for my children."
Bryan Baggaley, whose kids go to both schools, is a structural engineer by profession. He wasn't pleased by at least one response from the board.
Bryan Baggaley, Parent: "They feel that we won't have an earthquake. We haven't had an earthquake for a long time and that's not a big consideration."
The School Board dealt with a lot of considerations trying to decide what goes and what stays. Hank Bertosh with the Board says, quite honestly, he believes both schools wouldn't hold up in an earthquake.
Seismically unsafe schools throughout the state are something every district and board is having to deal with. But in this case, parents can't understand why, when there's a choice between a labeled safe and unsafe building, this decision was made.
Parent groups are looking at several possibilities.
Bryan Baggaley: "The possibility of a lawsuit, that's always been out there. That may be a consideration as well."
Parents are hoping negotiations are still open with the Board, that it's not too late to change the decision.
