Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
HERRIMAN — Between lunch periods at Herriman High School, the hallways are packed with hundreds of students, rushing to get where they need to go.
"When we first opened this school, it had 1,300 students," principal James Birch remarked. "We're over double that now."
Birch helped open the school in 2010. Now, with an enrollment of over 2,600, putting the campus at full capacity, he says the staff there is already faced with overcrowding problems.
"Every classroom is being utilized. Every nook and cranny is being utilized," Birch explained. "And we have 41 teachers teaching an extra period."
It's just one example of district-wide population growth that has school board members turning to the public for help in passing a $245 million bond this November.
"We are expected in the next five years to increase by 9,000 students," school board president Susan Pulsipher pointed out. "To get enough portables to house the students would mean that in some cases, almost as many portables on a school campus as we have classrooms in a school."
If passed, the bond would pay for six new schools across the district, including a rebuild of West Jordan Middle School, which was built in 1958. Without the bond approval, Herriman High School alone would have to host an estimated 85 portable classrooms.
School board members point out that the proposal has already garnered the support of all five area city mayors, and a parents group, known as Friends of Jordan School District.
"This time is completely different than three years ago," Dawn Ramsey, a member of the group said, referring to a $495 million bond proposal that failed in 2013. "There was a lot of hesitation from cities and from the public three years ago, but the administration of the Jordan School District has done an outstanding job of listening to our concerns."
The school district is in the middle of holding dozens of community open houses to answer questions about the bond. Locations and times for the meetings can be found on the bond's website.
