SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City School District says they have seen enrollment at their elementary schools decrease by 30 percent over the past decade.
That has led the district to study seven of its elementary schools for potential closure.
On Saturday at Glendale Middle School, the district held its second information meeting about its population and boundary study. The seven schools that could face a potential closure are Emerson Elementary, Hawthorne Elementary, M. Lynn Bennion Elementary, Mary W. Jackson Elementary, Newman Elementary, Riley Elementary and Wasatch Elementary.
"And the other 20 elementary schools are being studied for possible boundary realignment. As we close schools, we will have to shift boundaries across the district," said Yándary Chatwin, a spokesperson for the Salt Lake City School District. "It's possible that all 27 might be impacted in some way."
Chatwin said the initial committee that recommended these seven schools looked at 16 different factors, including student enrollment.
"Some people think it may lead to smaller classroom sizes, but it's often the opposite. We have smaller schools, that is ideal, but often the classrooms are really big," she said.
Chatwin said 32 schools — K-12 — were closed in the district between 1964 and 1979, and it has been more than 20 years since an elementary school was last closed down.
"We didn't close anything for a really large number of years, which again has led us to a point where we have been needing to look at school closures," said Chatwin. "Hopefully reviewing the data annually, it will help us avoid that in the future."
Jen Oscarson was one of the parents who attended the meeting on Saturday.
"I'm saddened by how this process is going," she said.
Oscarson has a child who attended Wasatch Elementary School before moving on to Bryant Middle School this school year.
"While my kid is not going to be there anymore, I do know what it looks like to not have a school in your neighborhood," said Oscarson. "What hurts so much is we know there is just no doubt that when you close a school... the people that are affected are the least advantaged in your community."
She told FOX 13 News her hope moving forward.
"That we see the vision of Salt Lake City and we work together with city planning, we look at what this new affordable housing overlay is going to be, we look at how our district sites could help enhance that, how we can figure out how to change some of the data," said Oscarson.
The district will be holding three more information meetings this month:
- Wednesday, October 18, 7-9 p.m. at Northwest Middle School
- Saturday, October 21, 9-11 a.m. at Franklin Elementary (conducted in Spanish)
- Wednesday, October 25, 7-9 p.m. at Hillside Middle School
Chatwin said they anticipate the school board will make a decision regarding the number of schools to close and which schools could ultimately close no later than January of next year.
