Reducing class size to better a child's education is a move parents rally around.
But when the common good may come at the sacrifice of another, the cheering stops.
That's at the heart of a proposal to change boundaries in the Salt Lake City School District.
Nobody wants the issue to come down to east side vs. west side. But that's an underlying current, considering the district may not be able to afford all schools once it builds two new ones for the growth-burdened west side. And, if any school must close, it probably will be on the east bench, where the number of school-age children has been declining for years.
The school board faces a choice akin to "booting a country out of the United Nations," as board member Joel Briscoe puts it. Nobody wants a school to close.
But, at the same time, west-side parents say it's their turn to shine.
"I've lived on the west side my whole life, and I feel we've gotten the shaft a lot because we don't have the pull and the money and the influence that comes with the money that the east-siders do," said Linda Seegmiller, mother of a Newman Elementary first-grader. "We've been pushed aside a lot for the benefit of the east-side people."
The issue over whether boundaries should be redrawn for Salt Lake City's 28 elementary and five middle schools is complex and involves growth needs, possible school closures and, for some, underlying equity and school choice issues.
The school board wants to change boundaries to balance uneven growth that remains a problem even after opening North Star Elementary this year.
The board will build new schools west of State Street, but it's still trying to locate land for them.
But there's a catch: The district might not have the millions of dollars needed to operate those and the rest of its 37 schools.
In fiscal year 1999, the district spent $11.3 million operating and maintaining school buildings, according to the district's annual financial report. The total maintenance and operation budget was around $119.5 million.
"If we have enough money in our district to keep every elementary open, I want to keep every elementary school open," school board President Kathy Black said.
Beacon Heights parents hope they can bank on that statement. They believe the school has been targeted to close. Proposed boundary scenarios, created by drawing a half-mile radius around each school and moving out from there, show the school has only 130 students living within boundaries.
The same number came up in district enrollment projections. By contrast, North Star Elementary in the west was past the 700-student mark.
But Beacon Heights parents are fighting to get the word out that the school's full, and has a waiting list.
Neighboring communities also are coming together to rally against boundary changes, some saying they moved to particular neighborhoods for the schools. Plus, they say the district hasn't clearly stated why such changes are needed in their area.
Parents are campaigning to keep Beacon Heights open, forming political action committees and Web sites and convincing Mayor Rocky Anderson to stump for their cause.
West of State Street, where poverty is more prevalent, a different tale unfolds where parents aren't as organized, but their concerns are as strong. They simply want to reduce class sizes to maintain an acceptable level of teaching.
Schools in low-income areas on the city's west side face unique challenges, from poverty to a large population of children just learning English, parents say. Families struggling to put food on the table often don't have time to volunteer in school. Therefore, large classes force teachers to slow the pace to keep all students up to speed, said Sandy Brewer, Meadowlark Elementary PTA president and mother of 11.
No west-wide parents are actively lobbying to close an east-side school. In fact, last year, Brewer sent her sixth-grader to Beacon Heights, where she says the differences in educational quality were "like night and day." She says closing that school would limit school choice in the area.
And some say building new schools expands choice for the west. "In schools that are chock full, there isn't a lot of choice," board member Ila Rose Fife said.
For example, new west-side schools may be able to offer more magnet programs for gifted children, called Extended Learning Programs.
North Star Elementary parent Darlene Fultz's children qualified for the program. But family obligations prevented her from driving them across town for the full-time program she preferred. So, her kids enrolled in a part-time program instead.
"I have no problems with (Beacon Heights) staying open as long as it's not affecting lowering class size on this side of town or getting an ELP program over here," Fultz said.
Meanwhile, the school board is sorting out public concern and will receive more data on transfer students and school costs at a May 2 study session.
The board has tossed around several ideas, including creating boundaries affecting the fewest families and consolidating to include kindergartners through eighth-graders. And maybe parents should think about putting their passions into schools in their own neighborhoods instead of transferring out, Briscoe said.
"We're going to make the best changes we know how to make, and get the best data we can get," Briscoe said. "But it won't be perfect."