PROVO — Provo residents with sentimental feelings toward Grandview Elementary School face a dilemma.
Any vote on June 27 for a proposed $35 million bond issuance for school construction and renovation projects in Provo schools may turn out to be a vote to permanently shut down the school.
On one hand, money from a voter-approved bond issuance would bring needed improvements to Dixon Middle School and Provo High School, the other schools Grandview students attend.
But if the bond proposal is successful, then Provo school bosses will go ahead with plans to build an elementary school in the Lakeview neighborhood for about 500 students.
Yet a new school in west Provo, in addition to Westridge Elementary, would make it difficult to justify keeping Grandview open — unless there is significant growth in northwest Provo, says Provo District Superintendent Randy Merrill.
Grandview, built in 1949, is older than Westridge — a major reason it is more vulnerable for closure.
"It's nothing against Grandview," Merrill said.
No decision on school closures will be made until 2008, a year before construction on the Lakeview school would finish — but that's only if voters who live within Provo's boundaries vote to increase taxes to pay for the school projects.
By that time, Merrill expects the city to finish a planning blueprint for the northwest part of town. The city's zoning for the area will indicate the future population and help the district with its decision about Grandview.
Provo Board of Education Vice President Sandy Packard protested Merrill's time line — which she said was too long — by voting against putting a $1.5 million leeway proposal on the June ballot in addition to the bond proposal.
If the bond and leeway are both approved by a majority of voters, property taxes on a $100,000 house would increase $65 over a three-year period.
In the end, Packard's vote lost to other school board members, who all voted to put the leeway proposal on the ballot.
Packard wanted a decision about Grandview's future made before voters were asked to cast ballots for the bond and leeway proposals.
A decision, she said, would help residents decide how to vote and prevent them from feeling betrayed if the district later decides to close a school.
At a recent meeting at Grandview, Merrill told the PTA the school might close. He also said he told teachers and staff that they would be transferred to the Lakeview school when it is complete, if the voters approve the bond proposal.
Merrill said the district would not put the property up for sale because it may need it in the future.
"It's a double-edged sword for us," said Cindy Gagon, PTA president at Grandview.
Gagon plans to vote for the bond issuance because after Grandview, the children move on to Dixon Middle and Provo High — schools that would benefit with upgrades if voters approve the bond proposal.
Cathy Macfarlane led a fight to keep open Grandview several years ago when the school board first discussed closing it. But she also plans to vote for the bond issuance, knowing it could lead to the closure of the elementary.
"I'm focusing on trying to come up with a compelling need to keep it open," she said. "We're brainstorming different ideas."
One idea is to turn Grandview into a building for full-day kindergarten — if Utah legislators pass a law requiring a change from half days. Or, she said, Grandview could become a magnet school for the arts.
Westridge PTA co-president Julie Durrant, however, will vote against the bond issuance.
"Why close down Grandview, hold on to the land, and raise the taxes?" she said.
Durrant wants the district to fill all schools to capacity and consider year-around or extended day programs.
E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com