Weber School District presents Loma View boundary-closure study; projects falling enrollments, portable surplus and Nov. 12 public hearing

Weber School District staff on Monday outlined a school closure and boundary study focused on Loma View, Orchard Springs and North Ogden elementaries, presenting October 1 USBE headcounts, cohort-based projections, local birth-rate trends, municipal development plans and portable-classroom usage.

District business administrator Brock Mitchell told the board the district’s October 1 counts fell from 32,287 on Oct. 1, 2024, to 31,470 on Oct. 1, 2025 — a decline of 817 students, or about 2.84 percent. “If we went 1 for 1, 1 student equals 1 WPU,” Mitchell said, and with a weighted pupil unit (WPU) at $4,674, he said the headcount decline would translate to a loss of “over $3.8 million” in K–12 funding for the district.

Heather Nelson and assistant superintendent Dave Hills summarized the technical elements underpinning staff projections: local birth-rate data, four-year geocoded student mobility, and a pass-through cohort method that tracks groups from grade to grade. Trent Bills, the district GIS specialist, explained how the district will…