The only year-round junior high schools in the Granite District will return to a traditional calendar next year, reflecting an enrollment decline that is expected to continue past the year 2000.
The Granite Board of Education members voted unanimously Tuesday night to take both Jefferson and Brockbank junior high schools off the year-round schedule beginning with the 1996-97 school year.According to Deputy Superintendent Riley O'Neil, the change is warranted because the enrollment "bubble" that began overcrowding the two schools five years ago is on its way out of the ninth grade.
Moreover, new five-year projections released Tuesday show enrollment in the state's largest school district declining from 76,011 this year to 71,398 in the year 2,000, a precipitous 6.07 percent drop.
The decrease in enrollment reflects a trend that began after a peak of about 79,000 students in 1991, the same year the school board voted to put Jefferson and Brockbank on a year-round schedule.It was an unpopular decision at the time, with many parents demanding that the district respond to the overcrowding by building new schools instead of changing schedules. With enrollment now dropping, the board's less costly approach has apparently paid off.
Enrollment at Jefferson, 5850 S. 5600 West, peaked in 1993 at 1,521, more than 300 above capacity. The school has 1,435 students this year and projects enrollment of 1,357 next year. If the five-year projections hold up, Jefferson could be well below capacity by the year 2000.
At Brockbank, 2935 S. 8560 West, the enrollment peaked at 1,312, more than 200 above capacity. Officials expect only 1,180 students next year.
Even if the projections prove to be too low, O'Neil said, "Some limited growth can be accommodated at both Jefferson and Brockbank with relocatables (temporary classrooms)."
Also, O'Neil said the two school's SAT scores haven't changed since going to the year-round schedule, indicating a change back probably would make no difference in academic performance.
Based on the enrollment figures and also considering the difficulty of merging the two schools' activities with those of the other junior high schools on traditional schedules, district officials said the change makes sense.
Board President Patricia Sandstrom agreed, adding, "I know many parents are anxious to see this happen."
However, as many as half of the parents apparently have come to prefer the year-round schedule, according to an informal survey cited by board member Robert Arnold. "We're not going to please everybody," he said.
And the board could face similar decisions involving school schedules and boundary changes in the years to come if the five-year projections hold true. While warning that projections are akin to hitting a moving target, Maurice MacKay, student accounting administrator, said the district appears to be in the midst of a sea change in demographics.
A large number of individual new homes and subdivisions have been built in the Granite District, but those homes don't have many school-age children, MacKay said. "They haven't generated the enrollment you would anticipate."
*****
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Enrollment projections
GRANITE SCHOOL DISTRICT
YEAR ENROLLMENT
1995 76,011
1996 75,496
1997 74,362
1998 73,238
1999 72,292
2000 71,398
TOTAL DECLINE 4,613