Large public turnout urges Alpine School District to keep Cedar Valley Elementary open; board holds public hearing, takes no closure vote

Dozens of parents, students, teachers and local elected officials urged the Alpine School District board during a public hearing to keep Cedar Valley Elementary open, offering alternatives to closure and warning that proposed boundary changes would lengthen bus rides, increase overcrowding elsewhere and damage community identity.

"Closing Cedar Valley won't save meaningful money but it will strain the other elementary schools in our area and compound problems at the start of our new district," said Heather Wrigley, a parent and community member, during the public hearing. "Closing will dismantle those successes."

Public hearing and main arguments

The board opened a public hearing on proposed boundary adjustments among multiple elementary schools and a separate public hearing on a possible closure of Cedar Valley Elementary. Speakers came from Cedar Fort, Fairfield, Firefly (a developing area), White Hills and Eagle Mountain.

Speakers repeatedly urged the board to delay a closure decision until the new district split in two years, to consider rezoning the nearby Cedar Pass Ranch neighborhood into Cedar Valley Elementary to boost enrollment without increasing bus times, and to explore adding modular classrooms on Cedar Valley's campus as a stopgap.

Specific proposals and community data offered

- Rezoning: Several speakers, including Ashley Cook and Monica Corey, proposed moving the West portion of the Cedar Pass Ranch neighborhood from Hidden Hollow Elementary to Cedar Valley Elementary; presenters argued the bus time would be about the same and would increase Cedar Valley enrollment without added…