KAYSVILLE -- Some feared for the safety of kids walking along busy roads.
Others shed tears because their kids could change schools.And some just wanted to ensure proposed boundary changes for 23 Davis School District elementary schools -- plus possible ripple effects to area junior high schools -- wouldn't affect them.
All told, some 200 families congregated Tuesday at Fairfield Junior High in the first of two open houses on the proposal, aimed at balancing enrollments for three new elementary school openings next year in Syracuse, West Point and Kaysville.
"It's been very, very smooth," said Chase Rogers, district growth and planning director, adding comments have come in over the past month. "Most people have been very calm, shared their concerns. There's been a few tears."
Many north Davis County elementary schools are overcrowded, with 101 portable classrooms dotting 28 schools in a boundary committee study area. New schools will provide 90 classrooms and allow portables to be distributed elsewhere.
The open houses serve to educate the public and glean input on the plan affecting north Davis County before final presentation to the Davis Board of Education. A board vote is expected next month.
Another open house will be held Thursday at Syracuse Junior High, 1450 S. 2000 West, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Parents were encouraged to write comments on a form or telephone or e-mail opinions for consideration by the boundary study committee, consisting of residents, school officials and parents. Maps of proposed boundaries were available for each school, and committee and district officials answered questions.
"It's been a good opportunity for them to express their concerns," said committee member Helen Marble, a West Point resident whose fourth-grader would go to a new school under the plan.
"Some who had controversial ideas about what's (happening to) schools had their eyes opened," she said. "You can't please everyone, but (the committee is) doing (its) best."
The proposal is in its second draft with minor revisions, including keeping together a Syracuse subdivision that had been split between three schools, said study committee facilitator Craig Poll, principal of Reading Elementary, which is outside the study area.
Most affected by the proposal are Syracuse and Layton elementaries, facing 36 percent and 43 percent enrollment reductions, respectively.
Syracuse Elementary has about 1,000 kids, spilling into 11 portable classrooms and the school's media center, Poll said. Layton Elementary uses seven portables to help house nearly 1,000 students.
About one-third of West Clinton Elementary's student body would be rerouted under the proposal; the same goes for about one-fourth of Antelope Elementary.
Syracuse Elementary parent Julie Wilcox is excited to send her first-grader to the new school but has some concerns about safety and quality. "When a new school is set up, you're not sure what you're going to get," she said.
Layton parent Tony Harris is concerned about his kindergartner walking to school along Gordon Avenue, a main city artery without a sidewalk in some parts, to get to the new Syracuse elementary. Still, he appreciates the district's public process.
"I think it's nice. We're fortunate to have a school there so close and that (the district) is addressing the issue right now," Harris said.