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SALT LAKE CITY — Students and faculty who were displaced after a 5.7 magnitude earthquake on March 18 significantly damaged West Lake STEM Junior High in West Valley City will be relocated to an elementary school in Taylorsville for up to two years.
The school district plans to have Westbrook Elementary School, 3451 W. 6200 South, prepared to occupy by fall. The Granite Board of Education voted late last year to close the elementary school effective at the end of this academic year. Westbrook Elementary was recommended for closure as the school district has worked to avoid school boundaries that straddle Bangerter Highway.
Typically, elementary schools serve school breakfast and lunch in multipurpose rooms that also serve as gymnasiums. Since the junior high has gym classes throughout the day, it needs full-time use of that space. The district will also build showering facilities.
The school district plans to place a large modular building at the school to serve as a dining hall that can serve up to 450 students at a time, said Don Adams, assistant superintendent of support services.
“We’re also securing a temporary structure that is about 200 feet long, 50 feet wide divided up into 12 classrooms, a couple of restrooms, hallways, etc.,” he said.
Adams said district officials opted not to bring in 12 individual relocatable classroom buildings to the site.
“We were able to secure an all-in-one building and so it will feel more like a contiguous hallway of a school,” Adams said.
In a letter to parents, West Lake Junior High Principal Tyler Howe wrote that he was “thrilled” the move to the Westbrook campus will keep the entire school together on one site.
“I am confident we will be able to maintain our comprehensive junior high and STEM school experience including music, sports, arts, extracurricular activities and all the programs we have enjoyed at West Lake STEM,” he wrote.
Some sports may need to be played at Bennion Junior High and performing arts concerts or other performances may need to shift to Granger High School while West Lake students temporarily attend Westbrook.
The district’s insurer will pay for the temporary buildings. Work is ongoing to determine if West Lake Junior High, located at 3450 W. 3400 South, can be salvaged through renovations or if the seismic damage is so severe that it must be rebuilt, Adams said.
Except for students who attend West Lake on permit, the school district will bus students to the junior high. Students who attend the school on permit must notify the school by May 1 of their plans to continue to attend West Lake or go elsewhere.
