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Richard Piatt ReportingSeveral parents are fighting a decision to send their kids to a different high school, because the decision was made behind closed doors.
Now a Utah judge is taking sides on the matter.
In fact, a second district court judge has issued an injunction stopping new high school boundaries from taking effect in the Davis school district.
Parents pushing the issue told me their input was cut short; their safety concerns were ignored.
Rush hour traffic is a nightmare in Davis County. It's enough to make some parents from Farmington cringe. They're upset enough to create T-shirts, and thinking about their kids in traffic, going to school.
Christine Smoot/ Davis District Parent: "I have three children that this will effect. And I have a lot of trouble saying this is okay."
At the same time, there are growing pains in the Davis District that demand action. More families, and a new school coming in Syracuse, sparked the redrawing of the high school boundaries.
The District says research ---and a committee --- ended with a plan. But when these parents saw the plan, they hit the roof. They're worried about safety and feeling shut out of the process.
Martin Brown/ Davis District Parent: "There are more than 300 families who are deeply concerned. We feel the school board process has been hijacked."
We compared the current and proposed boundary maps. For the North Farmington high school students, the new boundaries would take a two mile commute from their neighborhood to Davis High School, and turn it into a 9-mile commute to Viewmont High School in Bountiful---during heavy traffic hours.
The parents were so upset, they sued. Thursday, a second district court judge put a temporary restraining order on the new boundaries, citing a violation of the Utah Open and Public Meeting act.
Paula Alder was on the committee, and still felt ignored.
Paula Alder/ Parent and Boundary Committee Member: "I do feel like it was closed. I feel like we were made to feel like we couldn't share information. Now they're turning it around and saying we were the public in those meetings."
Davis School District Spokesman Chris Williams says parents were kept in the loop as much as possible.
Chris Williams/ Davis School District: "We've made so many efforts to keep people involved. Open houses, emails, dedicated web sites, phone numbers..."
The District says it has relied on joint committees to handle issues like this in the past with no problems.
But this time may be different. The school board will meet Tuesday, and a hearing in scheduled for December 11th, to decide if the judge's injunction stands.
