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District officials propose short‑term boundary moves and temporary placements as enrollment declines continue
Summary
District planners proposed a one‑year boundary adjustment to move a portion of Sunburst Elementary students to Sand Springs, temporary placements for English‑only students at Eagle Bay and Stewart to neighboring schools for 2025–26, and opened the plan for public comment with follow‑up actions in February.
Davis County School District staff presented the first phase of a boundary study on Jan. 21, proposing a short‑term move of part of Sunburst Elementary’s attendance area and temporary placements for English‑only students in a cluster of schools facing declining enrollment.
Dr. Ben Natter, presenting on behalf of the district, said staff met with Sunburst faculty and community councils and narrowed options to two principal maps. Staff recommended moving “group 2” of affected addresses back to Sand Springs for the next school year to remove roughly 150–171 students from Sunburst and ease crowding while district planners complete a larger boundary study.
Natter said staff want to avoid moving the same households twice and therefore recommended a limited, near‑term change followed by a broader cluster study. The district will post the proposed map for public comment, open an email address for input and hold an open house on Feb. 6 at Sand Springs; staff plan to report public input to the board on Feb. 19.
The presentation also described an urgent imbalance in immersion and English‑only enrollment in another cluster. Eagle Bay and Canyon Creek do not have enough English‑only 1st–3rd graders to form stable classes; Stewart (a Chinese immersion school) faces a similar risk in 1st grade. The district proposed, as a one‑year measure for 2025–26, that English‑only 1st–3rd graders from Eagle Bay attend Canyon Creek and that non‑immersion 1st graders at Stewart attend Reading Elementary, with the district providing transportation where necessary. Staff described these measures as temporary and tied to a broader study of all affected clusters.
Board members and teachers raised concerns that temporary moves could prompt parents to transfer older siblings and further destabilize schools; staff said they would consider alternative proposals and remove the temporary recommendation if a better short‑term plan is submitted through the public comment process. Natter said long‑term options discussed at meetings included magnet or centralized models for immersion programs, but he cautioned that any long‑term change must be considered across clusters, not in isolation.
The board did not vote on any boundary actions; staff will accept public comment, refine proposals and return to the board in February.
