Provo district maps schools' future

PROVO — Provo School District Superintendent Randy Merrill is using Rip Van Winkle's experience as a means to gauge the future of his schools.

Nearly every day since the district decided to draft a 10-year master plan, Merrill has been asking himself, "If I fell asleep and woke up 10 years later what would I see?"

"Would I see the same schools, just 10 years older?" he wonders. "Or would I wake up and see new schools and repaired schools and a better district?"

Merrill hopes for the latter, though the school board has yet to formally select a master plan that will map out a way to upgrade dilapidated schools and balance lopsided attendance boundaries.

With a looming deadline, however, the board recently drafted a proposed plan that will be presented to the public at an open house on Tuesday.

The plan calls for three phases — closing Joaquin Elementary and converting Farrer Middle School into an elementary for Joaquin students, rebuilding Timpanogos Elementary or relocating it to the Dixon Middle School building and constructing a Harbor Park Elementary for students in southwest Provo.

Details on each — like which Farrer students would attend the remaining two middle schools and whether other elementaries would be closed once Harbor Park is built — aren't finalized and were a hot topic at a recent board study session.

"When you make closures, make a commitment to not just make due," said Dixon Middle School Principal Rosanna Ungerman. "Take the whole distance to think out the plan. A master plan is not just one year."

Ungerman said Dixon could handle extra students, if necessary, but worried about using portable classrooms to accommodate them.

Centennial Middle School Principal Mitch Swenson also expressed concern about the future of some personnel, as well as increased disciplinary problems.

Merrill said he understands their apprehension but points to other Utah County middle schools and junior highs, where average student body populations are double Farrer's current count.

Even if the district closes Farrer, he points out, the remaining middle schools would average only 942 students each — keeping them the smallest in the county.

"It's not easy to change, but it's just right," Merrill said. "We believe we can be effective and efficient with this plan. There's a rightness to it."

Opposition isn't new to discussion regarding the master plan, however.