From Deseret News archives:
Bluffdale charter school is jeered
The group of kids were part of a vocal, neighborhood movement against the Providence Hall charter school, where parents and children came Monday night to christen their new campus, celebrate and try to ignore the jeers coming from behind them. Old and young came out to oppose the school, but, by far, the loudest were the littlest.
"There's a lot of traffic going into our school in the morning and in the afternoon, but the difference is (South Hills Middle School) is right by (a major road) and a lot of kids don't have to walk past the traffic there," said Butler, a seventh-grader at nearby South Hills Middle School. "But the cars that are driving into (Providence Hall), the kids are going to have to walk past them."
Butler, his parents and a number of other local residents in the area of 13400 South and 4000 West in Bluffdale are upset the school is moving into their neighborhood because they're worried the traffic will increase, their home values will go down and their peaceful neighborhood will be ruined.
What irks residents most is that a majority of them, including city officials, say they didn't know about the school until about a week ago. Recent legislation, HB172, allows charter schools to be built in locations, just like public schools, without standard city approval. So while school developers say they have been working with city staff on the project for a month now, the school has flown beneath the radar of the City Council.
City Councilwoman Nancy Lord said she was shocked to hear about the project Monday morning after being out of the country for a week.
"I got back and I started reading my e-mail this morning and I thought, 'Oh my gosh,' there's this huge issue that I was completely unaware of," Lord said.
The city is looking into what legal rights it has in the situation and may have a special City Council meeting on the matter, according to the councilwoman.
"We don't want to jump the gun on anything, but we want to be aware of what we should do," Lord said.
Recent comments
The new school looks great! We're glad there is an alternative to...
Neighbors | July 25, 2008 at 11:28 a.m.
Bluffdale can keep all of its flys, horsecrap, blue tarps and junked...
Thanks Bluffdale!! | July 25, 2008 at 11:23 a.m.
Providence Hall is going to be a great charter school and we are so...
Great new location | June 25, 2008 at 5:04 p.m.
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