Parents' dispute with teacher causes district to close school

BRIGHAM CITY — Parents' displeasure with a teacher has led to the suspension of a rural school and a rift in the community it serves.

Superintendent Martell Menlove recently announced to the school board that on Dec. 19, the Box Elder School District temporarily closed the doors to the Howell School.

The 12 students who had been enrolled at the rural school about 40 miles northwest of Brigham City are now attending North Park Elementary in Tremonton, 12 miles away.

Menlove said this move came after several parents chose to enroll their students in Tremonton, "and other things."

The rural school was staffed with a new teacher last August and within a matter of weeks, several parents were concerned about her teaching style. They complained that there was no homework coming home, readers weren't being used and spelling tests were both random and verbal.

The controversy has created division in the community. Parents have complained that they were discouraged from visiting or volunteering at the school. The volunteer who helped with the Dibels program was told her services weren't needed.

Parents later learned their new teacher was not certified to teach elementary education.

Terry Jackson, assistant superintendent and human resources director, said the teacher has a bachelor's degree in secondary education but was allowed teach under an Alternate Route to Licensing program while she completes the requirements for certification in elementary education.

The final straw for Nicole Sorenson came just before Christmas when she learned her daughter had been disciplined and then given instruction not to discuss what happened with her parents. She said numerous attempts were made to meet with both the teacher and the school district.

"She completely blew off everything we wanted as parents," Sorenson said.

One by one, parents began removing their students until finally, it was no longer feasible for the district to pay for a teacher at the rural school.

Arthur Douglas, who was born and raised in the area and saw five of his children educated at Howell School, said the school was closed for lack of parental concern.

Douglas has voiced strong opposition to the closure since he heard the news.

"These new generations of parents believe that those of us or our children who attended Howell Elementary are not as well-rounded or educated as those who attended a bigger, more impressive school," he wrote in a letter to the editor.

Howell Mayor Greg Hawkes says he can see the repercussions the town of just over 200 now faces, saying it is hard to keep people in a rural farming town without a school.

"A school is just a building. It's nothing without good students. And to have good students, you have to have good teachers," he said. "I'm not sure the effort has been made to keep good teachers."

Menlove said the doors to the school have been locked and its contents will be untouched until a permanent decision has been made.

The district and the parents will meet again in the spring to reassess the options available to each. Howell's school has been open since 1911.

E-mail: amy@benewsjournal.com