Iron County School Board eyes elementary boundary changes, addresses gender identity guidance

After discussing the subject at length during their Feb. 15 work meeting, school board members listened to a handful of parents voice their concerns during the following week’s action meeting.

State law requires at least 120 days’ notice for such changes to take effect, which means it would be at least June before the boundary changes could be finalized, said Todd Hess, the district’s business administrator.

“After tonight, … we will provide that notice and start this clock running,” Hess said during the board’s Feb. 15 meeting. “Ensuring that the parents of those students enrolled in those schools and other schools in the district are going to know what those boundaries are and how those change.”

The suggested changes, which district officials estimate will affect approximately 200 students, are designed to alleviate some of the overcrowding issues in high growth areas, Hess noted, citing Three Peaks Elementary and Iron Springs Elementary in particular.

Under the proposed changes outlined Feb. 15, which are based on current enrollment numbers, Three Peaks would decrease by 115 students and Iron Springs would see a net decrease of 75 students, even after picking up approximately 30 students from Three Peaks.

Meanwhile, three elementary schools would see a collective increase of 190 students, with Cedar City’s North and South adding 79 and 62 pupils, respectively, and Enoch Elementary picking up 49. Cedar’s East Elementary would not be affected.

Additionally, students who already have permission to attend a school outside their natural geographic boundary, including those who are already enrolled in dual immersion or another special program, also would not be affected since their existing agreements would remain in place, district officials have indicated.

An interactive map showing both the current boundaries and the proposed changes can be found on the district’s website.

During the process of trying to modify some of the boundaries to help utilize space that they have in their existing buildings for the next several years and until new buildings are built, Hess said there were a few things they kept in mind.

“No. 1, we wanted to affect the least amount of people as possible. No. 2, we wanted to make sure boundaries made sense,” Hess added. “And No. 3, we wanted to keep in mind some of the growth areas, and … hopefully not have to do this again until one of those (new) schools is built.”

Parents of students who live within the affected areas have already been notified of the proposed changes via the district’s Remind messaging system.

Two of the parents who commented during the board’s Feb. 23 meeting said they had concerns related to their children with special needs.

Brittney Orton, who lives in a neighborhood that is being recommended to switch to Enoch Elementary, said such a change would be disruptive for her daughter with Down syndrome.

“I think taking her out of her element at Three Peaks would be really detrimental to her development,” Orton said.

Another mother wondered how long the boundary adjustments would actually last.

“There’s a proposed subdivision between our neighborhood and Enoch Elementary,” said Nicole Funderburk. “Has that been taken into account? Are we, like, a year or two down the road, going to be asked to move again?”

The public is invited to continue to submit questions and comments during the board’s upcoming monthly meetings between now and June, board members said, adding that an official public hearing will also be held, as required by law. Written comments are also welcome to be submitted via email to the board members.

Gender Identity Guidance

In other recent school board business, the board voted 4-1 on Feb. 23 to approve a resolution in response to the Utah State Board of Education’s recently proposed “Gender Identity Guidance” document (also known as GIG) for dealing with issues related to students who are transgender or otherwise are gender nonconforming. A working draft of the state board’s document may be found here.

Essentially, Iron County School District’s resolution states that it intends to create its own policy, rather than abide by the state board’s non-binding directive.

The Iron County Schools resolution reads, in part:

The Iron County School Board respectfully requests that the Utah State Board of Education withdraw the “Gender Identity Guidance for Public Schools” document from consideration in favor of local policy development by the duly elected representative school boards of each LEA (Local Education Agency).

Iron’s resolution, which was written and proposed by board member Dave Staheli, further states that the Iron County school board will, with the assistance of legal counsel, create its own policy, aligned with state and federal law, that will “promote a safe, respectful learning environment, and equal opportunity for a high-quality education for all students, while sustaining the values and standards of Iron County.”

The measure passed 4-1, with board president Michelle Lambert casting the only dissenting vote.

Lambert said during the meeting that although she appreciated the considerable effort that went into crafting and revising the response, she had issues with it being framed as a resolution, rather than an actual policy.

“I think in working through policy, we can maybe better thread that needle in a way that’s going to address the concerns we have with the GIG while still making things better for these kids who are not feeling like they belong in our schools,” Lambert said.

“My concern is a resolution is a message,” Lambert added. “And the message doesn’t just go out to the people listed. The message also goes to the students, and I fear that there are some students who might be harmed by it. That’s the thing that I think is just holding me back a little bit on it.”

Nevertheless, Lambert said, “We do need a policy. We do need guidance. And, we need to find that balance as we work through it.”

To see a copy of the board-approved resolution, click here.

Meanwhile, the Utah State Board of Education is scheduled to continue its discussion about the topic during its upcoming board meeting on March 11.

Other recent Iron County School District Board of Education actions include:

• On Feb. 23, the board recognized several high school athletes (wrestlers and swimmers from both Canyon View and Cedar high schools) who recently saw success at their respective state tournaments.
• Staheli presented a concept called “Iron Strong Stories,” an idea to encourage members of the community to share written personal histories about themselves or ancestors, to be included in an online data bank that could be accessed by teachers and students. Such a resource could help foster students’ appreciation for their own heritage, in addition to strengthening intergenerational ties, he said.
• The school board is also in the process of updating several district policies, including those pertaining to school fees, employee sick leave, personal leave and video surveillance.

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