Davis District seeks aid from its former leader

Former Davis Superintendent Darrell White has been asked to come out of retirement and take the reins in redrawing high school boundaries in Davis School District.

White was offered the job Wednesday to oversee what has been a heated and emotional issue. He is considering it but is yet to give an answer.

Davis Superintendent Bryan Bowles said White's background fits the bill for what the district is looking for in a consultant to balance enrollment in Davis' seven high schools, as well as make room for a new high school in Syracuse that will open next fall.

Aside from being a former Davis superintendent, he has served as the governor's education deputy and interim president of the Utah College of Applied Technology.

"He's very competent, knows what he is doing, and I think he might do it," Bowles said. "He knows school boundaries and understands high schools ...He has been a consultant for boundaries in several districts and has a wide background."

White was at the helm in drawing Northridge High School boundaries in Davis 14 years ago.

White's offer comes after the Davis Board of Education voted Tuesday to start from scratch after a court order halted discussions last week.

A 2nd District Court judge in Farmington, responding to claims that the Boundary Advisory Committee formed to recommend new boundaries violated the state's open-meeting law, issued a restraining order last Thursday preventing the district from using any of the information gathered by the committee to make boundary decisions.

The committee's charge was to conduct a district-wide boundary study in connection with the opening of the new Syracuse high school. They were to create a proposal that would help balance enrollments in each of the high schools, which would require moving a number of students to different schools.

The 39 committee members were appointed from city governments, school community councils and high school community representatives.

That committee was dissolved this week, and until the restraining order is lifted, officials are prohibited from using any research or materials created by the committee.

Board members opted to start fresh using a private consultant.

Some community members say it's a good idea, while others feel they lost opportunity for real input the second the committee was dissolved.

"I have no problem with an expert in a closed room working through all the data and coming up with what they believe is the very best proposal, as long as officials don't give them hidden agendas and artificial target numbers," said Randy Smith, a north Farmington resident.