Parents and teachers urge board to pause Area 5 boundary study as PAC recommends Morningside closure

Dozens of parents, teachers and community advocates urged the Granite School District Board of Education on Oct. 7 to pause and revisit an Area 5 boundary study after the district’s Population Analysis Committee (PAC) recommended closing Morningside Elementary and consolidating nearby schools.

Speakers at the public-comment portion — including Sarah Harmon of Eastwood and multiple parents from Morningside —said the PAC recommendation relied on incomplete data and would disrupt students’ transportation, programs and neighborhood schools. “This year, Granite District failed to strictly follow the new truth in taxation law and the district lost nearly $18,000,000 of tax revenue,” Sarah Harmon said during public comment, arguing the district needs better, verifiable data before closing schools.

The PAC presented a status update to the board during the meeting and emphasized that the item before the board Monday night was informational only. The committee’s recommendation released Sept. 2 proposes combining Eastwood and Oak Ridge boundaries, relocating some attendance areas to nearby schools and converting Morningside to a French DLI site under the PAC proposal. PAC members told the board they will revisit several parts of the proposal — including alternate locations for ALC (alternative learning center) and DLI (dual-language immersion) programs — before a formal board action later in November and December.

Why it matters: The recommendation would change who attends which elementary school, alter feeder patterns to junior highs and affect transportation. Parents and community members told the board that the PAC did not adequately analyze walking routes, bus capacity and the causes of attrition at some schools. Several speakers said that promises that all students north of Mill Creek Canyon would be bused had not been backed by a transportation feasibility analysis; the director of transportation, Dave Gaddy, has previously told audiences the transportation facility is near capacity. Board members asked PAC to supply additional, specific data to answer those questions.

Public comment highlights and objections - Sarah Harmon, representing more than 100 Eastwood community members, said the PAC had not explained high attrition rates at Oak Ridge and detailed that “the district's own charts disprove” simple explanations. She asked the board to require verifiable analyses before any closure decision. - Multiple Morningside parents — including Danielle Hausman, Carrie (last name not specified) and Jen Robinson — urged the board to pause the study for at least a year, arguing PAC’s recommendation would leave split classrooms, unbalanced class sizes and the “benchmarks you promised haven't been met.” Danielle Hausman said the PAC recommendation left 40% of area 5 schools still projecting split classrooms and class-size imbalance. - Eastwood advocates, including Kimberly Evison and Nastasia Mangone, described Eastwood’s Gold STEM designation and argued the school should be rebuilt rather than closed. Kimberly Evison provided a summary of the application and state-designation requirements for STEM schools and noted Eastwood is one of a small number of Utah elementary schools with that designation.

PAC presentation and board response PAC presented maps, enrollment figures and multiple scenarios for the board. PAC members explained their goals — including increasing the number of grade-level classes to three per grade at schools and reducing extreme peaks and valleys in class sizes — and outlined proposed boundary shifts that would preserve junior-high feeders in the Churchill cluster. PAC said its transportation analysis relies on historical ridership rates and that, under the current proposal, students north of Mill Creek Canyon could be served by dedicated bus routes and that Immigration Canyon could be served by a stand-alone route. PAC told the board it will revisit the option of housing ALC at different sites and whether Eastwood or Oak Ridge would be better locations for ALC or the French DLI program.

Board members repeatedly told patrons that tonight’s update was informational only and no formal action would be taken. Several board members said they had not made their decisions and asked PAC to return with more targeted answers to specific questions. The board asked members to send written questions to the PAC chair through the superintendent’s office so PAC could compile responses for the board and publish follow-up data.

Next steps and timeline PAC members said the board’s first formal reading on related policy/timeline items is scheduled for Nov. 18, with additional meetings, public hearings and final board action anticipated in November and December.

Ending In the interim, PAC said it will reconvene and analyze specific concerns raised by parents about bus capacity, attrition, community outreach and program placements. The district posted the PAC presentation and maps and told the board the material would be available on the district website for review.