3 SCHOOLS MOVE TOWARD YEAR-ROUND

Valley Crest, Hillsdale and Plymouth elementary schools in Granite District will begin an intensive study of year-round scheduling during the 1991-92 school year, with the intent to implement the schedule the following year.

Valley Crest is at 5240 W. 3100 South; Hillsdale at 3275 W. 3100 South; and Plymouth at 5220 S. 1470 West.Citizen committees in the three school areas reported to the Granite Board of Education Tuesday. In each instance, surveys among parents indicated more support for year-round scheduling than for other options, which included boundary changes, busing students to schools outside their neighborhoods or double sessions.

In most of the affected neighborhoods, boundary changes are not feasible because nearby schools also are overcrowded.

At Plymouth Elementary, parents also voted on a related issue - the desirability of creating self-contained classrooms in a school originally built on an open plan. More than 86 percent of the parents favor closing in classrooms, said Kathy North, who represented the school community.

The board also heard a report from Maurice Wilkinson regarding the status of the district's schools relative to a state requirement that buildings be utilized to 70 percent of capacity.

All of the schools currently are meeting the 70 percent requirement, Wilkinson said, and many are well over 100 percent capacity.

The 70 percent requirement led to closing of East Mill Creek School three years ago because of underenrollment in several east-side schools.