Amid budget cuts, townsfolk of Boulder, Utah, rally to support tiny school, principal

BOULDER, Garfield County — A man strolls into the Burr Trail Grill and does a double take at Scott Brodie, one of the six parents of 10 students who attend the tiny elementary school in Boulder.

"Hey, isn't that my shirt?" the man remarks.

Brodie's yellow T-shirt has a VW bus on the front and reads: "Jerry Garcia, August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995."

In the tight-knit town of Boulder in south central Utah, the approximately 200 residents participate in a community item exchange. If they are tired of their old clothes, CDs or books, they simply leave them on wooden shelves in an enclosed area behind the post office. People pick out any items they like.

Brodie grins at the man. He is pleased to be making good use of someone else's old shirt.

The item exchange is just one of many ways the people support each other in this remote Utah town. "That is the spirit of our community," said Boulder Mayor Bill Muse, 62.

Boulder townsfolk have always pulled together for the good of the community. But thanks to the recession, they fear one of the things they share, and value most, is being taken from them: the little schoolhouse where some of the town's children attend.

Last month, the Garfield School Board considered closing Boulder Elementary. While the board agreed to allow the school to remain open for the 2010-11 school year, principal/head teacher/secretary Roy Suggett, 52, is being sent to teach science at Bryce Valley High School in Tropic, about 65 miles away. The current teacher's aide, Colene Gardner, is to oversee Boulder Elementary this fall with the help of a new aide. That leaves two employees running the tiny school.

The school was spared this year, but parents expect they will continue to face the crisis annually. Next year they may not be so lucky.

Life in a small town

Nestled amid several national parks, Boulder is an artist's palette of red, orange, green, blue and yellow — sand, hills, mountains, rocks and streams. The town in Garfield County is out of the way — of most everything.