Survey: many Wasatch area families prefer Wasatch High; students more uncertain about school choice

District staff presented two surveys at the study session: a parent survey with roughly 772 responses and a student survey with about 1,100 responses from current 9th–11th graders. The surveys were organized by elementary boundary to show how preferences vary across feeder areas.

In the parent data for Daniels Canyon Elementary (about 150 families), 75% listed Wasatch as their preferred high school and staff reported that roughly 73% of those parents said they would use school choice to attend Wasatch if assigned elsewhere. Across student responses, staff reported 715 students preferred Wasatch, 138 preferred Deer Creek and 214 said they were undecided.

Staff cautioned directors that students’ preferences often depend on where their friends, coaches and teachers end up once boundaries and staffing are set. As one staff presenter summarized, many students are “waiting to see” how boundaries and coach/teacher assignments land before they finalize a decision. Board members said those social ties — friends, coaches and particular teachers — were powerful drivers of school choice and that family reliance on district transportation would likely modulate who actually transfers.

Directors said the survey results helped explain why a D map (which produces a more balanced projection) appeals for enrollment reasons while an H map appeals to communities that want to avoid neighborhood splits. The board directed staff to combine the survey findings with boundary tweaks and to include survey summaries in the materials mailed to households with affected secondary students.