Granite School District considering closing east-side elementary schools

SALT LAKE CITY – Big changes may be coming for thousands of elementary school students in the Granite School District.

The district is looking at possibly closing elementary schools on the district's east side from among a list of ten schools, including: Cottonwood, Crestview, Driggs, Eastwood, Morningside, Oakridge, Oakwood, William Penn, Rosecrest, and Upland Terrace Elementaries.

Parents have a chance to weigh in on it Wednesday night.

The biggest reason the Granite School District is looking into closing schools is that student enrollment is shrinking. At schools like Cottonwood Elementary in Holladay, student enrollment has been in sharp decline since 2019 and is expected to drop again next year.

The rest of the schools on the list are facing the same situations, each of them feeding into either Olympus or Skyline high schools, which may be affected as a result.

Because of enrollment decline, Granite approved a population analysis study back in February to look at either changing the boundaries or closing the elementary schools altogether.

"We'd like to see at least three classes per grade level, and if you have smaller schools, you have maybe one, one and a half per grade level, which results in split grades, which is not good for students, teachers, academic outcomes. It's not something we like to do," said Andrea Stringham, who handles media relations for the Granite School District.

The district is looking at examining enrollment trends, building capacities, and neighborhood needs before it makes any recommendations, expected by late summer or early fall. Any changes to the schools wouldn't begin until the 2026-2027 school year.

The Granite School District has already held two open houses back in March and planned to hold another one Wednesday night.

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