Canyons approves boundaries; westside Draper residents not included in new school

SANDY — The Canyons School Board approved new boundaries for the district's high schools Tuesday in a 4-3 vote, rejecting two amendments that would have sent more of Draper's students to a new high school being built in the city.

Despite more than a dozen comments made by residents on Draper's west side, the board approved new maps that will send much of the city's high school students to the new high school, while the areas west of I-15 will continue to attend Jordan High.

"We've been to everything we were supposed to go to … and we're still not being heard," west-side resident Julie Macey said. "We come every week... and you still don't believe us or you don't care."

Some west-side parents want to see their children attend the new school rather than take long bus rides to farther-north Jordan High. Others said they think the board is acting in bad faith by rebuilding Sandy schools that will remain below capacity when most of the district's growth is in Draper.

The three board members who opposed the proposal, which the board tentatively adopted two weeks ago, said they didn't feel right about ignoring west-side Draper residents.

"How many petitions, how many signatures… does it take to really convince (us) that this is the will of the people," asked board member Paul McCarty, who voted against the adopted map. "I am totally convinced that the vast majority of the residents on the west side of Draper want to come to this school."

Board member Kim Horiuchi said a driving force for the new high school was accommodating the district's academic decision to move all ninth-graders into high schools and convert the district's junior highs into middle schools. The new high school was never intended to be a school that would house the entire city's teenagers.

"Our purpose and responsibility and mission is completely different than Draper City's," Horiuchi said. "It's not an east and west issue. I'm worried about the capacity of the new high school."

Some parents argued that there is a disproportionate number of schools in Sandy, where population is declining, yet not a single middle school in Draper, which has seen tremendous growth.

"There are 14,000 kids in Draper that need to have schools in their community," said resident Jared Pierce.

Pierce developed a map the board voted on Tuesday that would have sent more west-siders to the new high school. Pierce's boundaries failed 3-4. He said he suspects there were political motives for the board's decision.