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SALT LAKE CITY — Like other school districts throughout Utah have done, the Salt Lake City School District on Tuesday took the first steps in exploring the potential closure of seven elementary schools.
During Tuesday's board meeting, the district's options committee presented a list of seven schools that it recommended to be studied for possible closure.
The seven schools listed were Emerson Elementary, Hawthorne Elementary, M. Lynn Bennion Elementary, Mary W. Jackson Elementary, Newman Elementary, Riley Elementary and Wasatch Elementary.
Brian Conley, who led the options committee, said the district has seen a declining elementary student population — which prompted the district to start the population and boundary study last July.
"In the fall of 2014, the district had ... 13,431 K-6 students," Conley said. "That number fell to 9,610 this past school year."
This decline marks a nearly 29% drop in the student population.
All 27 elementary schools in the district were included in the population and boundary study, with the aforementioned seven presented to the board for further consideration, though no action was taken Tuesday evening to officially begin a study of closing those schools.
"It doesn't mean that those schools are all going to close," Salt Lake City School District spokeswoman Yandary Chatwin told KSL NewsRadio. "It doesn't mean anything definitive until the board takes a vote in December or January."
According to a timeline of the population and boundary study, the board could determine which, if any, of the seven recommended schools to move into a formal study process in August.
While aiming for a final decision in December or January, this timeline would ensure the district's compliance with Utah code, which requires that parents of students enrolled in any affected school must be notified 120 days before that school is closed or its boundaries are changed.
Additionally, it would give the district time to collect and weigh input from community members.
"This schedule and what's going on over the next six to eight months ... was designed to ensure that our families have sufficient notice of any final decisions," Conley said. "This will ensure they can learn about their school programs, transportation and services before the end of the school — this coming school year — and then they have the time and information needed to prepare for the following year."
District Superintendent Elizabeth Grant acknowledged that while school closures are always tough, the district took a "data-driven" approach to assessing what schools could potentially be studied for closure.
"It was built on trying to analyze the data on 27 elementary schools, so pulling everything we could get about those schools and then taking a look at that in a holistic way across the district," Grant said.
Board member Ashley Anderson took issue with the recommendations, saying she was disappointed to see Wasatch Elementary on the list and its inclusion raised questions for her.
"One thing that does give me pause looking at the list is seeing that the district's most affluent areas are untouched," Anderson said.
With a board decision on any final school closures or boundary changes coming in late 2023 or early 2024, there is still ample time for public input, which can be submitted virtually here.
