After a year of uncertainty, many Sandy parents expected a decision about proposed school consolidations in early May, however, Canyons Board of Education members had second thoughts. 

No final decision was made on the plan to merge Granite Elementary with Quail Hollow Elementary nor Park Lane Elementary with Willow Canyon Elementary. The school board tabled the decision and instead, chose to conduct a comprehensive districtwide study of elementary schools feeding into middle and high schools and will study enrollment trends and boundary impacts districtwide. 

Board member Katie Dahle made the motion postponing the vote, indicating she wanted additional time to study how enrollment declines are affecting schools and feeder systems across the district rather than moving forward with individual school consolidations.

“It became more apparent this spring as we were talking about it; we knew this was an issue,” she said. “We knew we were going to have to look at this. Our goal was that we could sort of do these in layers, bit by bit; but as we went through it, nine schools connect, boundary-wise, that are facing declining enrollment, and they're only a year or two behind where Granite, Park Lane and Willow Canyon are currently. So, we need to be sure we have the right decision for those schools.”

The comprehensive study is expected to take an additional year, which Dahle said created more frustration for some parents by not knowing their students’ future schools, yet relief for others that no hasty decision was made. Parents have been giving feedback to the Board on different proposals at lengthy public hearings and board meetings as well as through phone calls, emails and online input.

“The Willow Canyon and Park Lane communities were glad we paused with this goal to provide a long-term plan our community can trust and be behind; that's actually what they were asking for,” she said. “The Granite community was frustrated because they wanted to be done. I empathize, because this is a hard, long, emotional process. They want to be settled. I want them to be settled, but I don't want to pull their chain and have something change in a couple years as we address neighboring schools.”

The proposals to merge schools comes from ongoing challenges in declining enrollment, lower birth rates and rising housing costs. 

Board members said it’s best for schools with low enrollment to consolidate, but with additional time to ensure they’re making the best decision.

“It's not like, we paused it indefinitely,” Dahle said. “I'm fully committed to putting all my effort into getting this done in an expeditious manner so we can find some resolve for these families. We have until December to make any final decisions for the ’27-’28 year. So, there's still the possibility we could do something, but we need to make sure we know the next steps are also ready to go, and it all makes sense.”

The Board said it wants to be financially responsible with taxpayer money, however a couple board members expressed surprise about the motion.

“I did catch them off guard,” Dahle said. “I honestly went into that meeting thinking I was going to vote for the closure of Granite, not that I liked it, but this is what we've been working on. And it hit me to the point I was shaking; this is not the right decision. This is not the right long-term decision to do this in a vacuum after we've pulled off all these other pieces; we can't do this in a vacuum. It's important we get this right the first time, because its students’ and its families’ lives at stake, and it's not fair to them to have uncertainty in the process.”