West Jordan, district close to building new school

"This has been frustrating as a parent to watch this go back and forth," said Mike Roach, a West Jordan resident. "This squabbling has been going on for a year. It's frustrating that it has come down to who's going to pay for the sewage."

Oakcrest Elementary, with an enrollment of more than 1,400, is bursting at the seams, residents said. Some students spend 40 minutes each way on buses to get to and from Oakcrest, which is the most populated elementary school in the district.

"We really need this (new school) to happen," said Becky Hutchins, organizer of the Concerned Parents Coalition, a residents' group seeking to end overcrowding at Oakcrest and get a new elementary school built in the area. "Clearly, it's a crisis."

The estimated $13.5 million elementary school would be built as a prototype and would be nearly identical to Oakcrest, officials said. Enrollment is expected to be high enough — between 800 and 1,000 students — that it will open in July 2008 as a year-round school.

The district bonded for the school in 2003. The project will go out for bid next week and construction is expected to begin in May, district officials said.

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