The recommendations for new high school boundaries in north Davis County are in.
"Now comes the fun part," said Louenda Downs, Davis School Board member, referring to the upcoming public hearings, which historically have been lively, emotional meetings.Starting in fall 1992, about 700 students will be shifted from Clearfield High School and another 700 from Layton High to a new high school in north Layton.
The boundary changes also affect Davis High, which will lose about 80 students to Layton High School.
Still unnamed, the new $28.5 million high school, 2220 N. Hill Field Road, has been under construction since last fall and is scheduled to open in August 1992 to alleviate overcrowding in north Davis County, where enrollment at the three high schools, whose capacity is 5,500, exceeds 6,000. The schools' enrollment is expected to reach 8,300 by the mid-1990s.
A 16-member citizens committee has been convened since Jan. 29 to study the current boundaries and come up with a suitable plan for the new school. That plan was presented Tuesday night by Darrell White, a school district consultant who has been working alongside the committee.
White said he believes the boundary proposal is sound and will give each high school a good socio-economic mix, cause minimal disruptions and provide an enrollment balance for years to come.
If the new boundaries are adopted, Clearfield High, which has a capacity of 2,000, would have about 1,900 students for the 1992-93 school year; Layton, with a capacity of 1,900, would be full; and the new high school, with a capacity of 2,200, would have about 1,400.
In addition to the new boundaries, White recommended that the 80 or so students currently living in the Davis High boundaries affected by the changes be "phased in" to attendance at Layton High.
White also recommended that Clearfield High and Layton High seniors who are affected by the change be allowed to stay at their respective schools to graduate.
The new boundaries for the high schools are too complicated and vast to explain accurately in a newspaper story. For more information, visit your local high school's office or the district offices in Farmington. Or attend one of the upcoming public hearings (please see box).
In Tuesday's meeting, some parents living along Mutton Hollow Road expressed concern over their children having to attend Layton High when they have more ties to Kaysville schools.
And parents from Sunset Junior High were concerned about the "emotional impact" the new boundaries would have on the 17 percent of that junior high's student body that will have to go to Clearfield High while the remaining 83 percent goes to the new high school.
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Boundary hearings
Got a question or comment on the proposed boundaries for the new high school? Take it to the board during one of these public hearings:
Clearfield High School - May 7.
Layton High School - May 21.
The meetings start at 5:30 p.m. The Davis School Board is scheduled to take final action on the new boundaries on June 18.