From Deseret News archives:
Fake news story riles Davis District
But leaders of the Davis Parents' Association, a recently established grass-roots group, say the story was a way to get the attention of district officials and initiate dialogue.
Over the past two months, board members and district officials have been under fire by parents and Davis community members over a controversial study that would realign the attendance boundaries for every high school in the district.
Leaders say they've received phone calls, letters and scathing e-mails from parents who are concerned about uprooting their students from their schools, breaking family traditions and safety.
But with the recent posting on the association's Web site, parents crossed the line, said Chris Williams, spokesman for Davis School District.
"It stuns me each time I read it," Williams said. "It is totally inappropriate."
The site displays a fictional news article about a car accident that kills and seriously injures students on the way to school after the district changes boundary lines requiring some students to drive nine miles to Viewmont High rather than just two miles to Davis High.
According to DPA's Web site the primary objective of the association is to improve communication between the district and Davis families.
"I don't see that as two-way communications — you have to start by treating people with common courtesy and that (fictitious news story) does not reflect courtesy," Williams said.
The fictional accident takes place in December 2009 and is described as "youthful human carnage" after students collide with another car on an icy road.
While two students are killed, one fictitious student is on life support and the other suffers a severed leg.
In the story, a jury pins fault on Davis School District board members and announces a multimillion-dollar verdict, determining "that both Davis County School District and certain board members acted in willful disregard of statutory responsibilities to safeguard students. ... They found six board members and the District guilty of per se negligence."
Randy Smith, spokesman for the parents' group, said the story was meant to get the attention of district leaders and board members who have been ignoring parents' safety concerns.
"In the past we have tried to express some real concerns and the district has replied back with statements of liability and not safety," Smith said.
Those concerns stem from a former boundary proposal that realigned the district and required some students to travel to a school farther away from their homes than their current school. That proposal was later nixed after the Boundary Advisory Committee was accused of violating open meeting laws. Now it is up to a consultant to create a completely new proposal, but student safety remains the association's top concern.
E-mail: terickson@desnews.com
