Parents challenge Granite's decision to close 2 schools

A pair of Canyon Rim Elementary School parents say the Granite Board of Education's Nov. 29 decision to close Canyon Rim and Meadow Moor elementary schools is invalid because it violates the board's own policies.

Cheri Jackson and Shana Heyn co-authored a Dec. 9 letter to Granite School District Superintendent Stephen Ronnenkamp saying the board's policy required it to either accept or reject a recommendation by the district's Options Committee — not come up with its own strategy for saving money.

Because the board's decision to close Canyon Rim and Meadow Moor was not first recommended by the Options Committee, Heyn and Jackson say it cannot be adopted. They say the board has no choice but to delay any closures for one year and send the issue back to the Options Committee for more study.

"Their only option at this stage is to enter a resolution indicating the action they've taken is invalid," said Erik Olson, a Canyon Rim parent and attorney who provided legal advice to Heyn and Jackson. "So the effect of it is that these particular schools that have been affected can be studied in 2006 by the Options Committee. But they can't make some resolution that's outside of their procedure . . . "

The board already has decided to take a vote during tonight's regular board meeting on whether to reconsider the planned closures.

Three board members on Friday requested that a "motion to reconsider" be placed on tonight's agenda. If five of the seven board members vote to reconsider, then the board could discuss the issue once again and potentially make a different decision tonight, board president Patricia Sandstrom said.

"Some of them feel like we moved too fast," Sandstrom said Monday of board members and the Nov. 29 decision. "Some feel like they want to revisit it and not close any schools, I guess."

Tonight's meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Granite Education Center, 2500 S. State.

Jackson said a lawsuit could be filed if the Nov. 29 decision stands.

"We certainly would not want to do that unless there is no other route we can take," she told the Deseret Morning News. "We hope they will review their policies and say, 'Yes, we erred. We need to make this decision void and revisit it next year' and that is what we hope they will do."

Ronnenkamp said Monday he had received the letter and read it but did not give it much credence.

"We disagree that the board is limited to selecting only from options generated by the Options Committee," Ronnenkamp said in a statement.