SALT LAKE CITY — M. Lynn Bennion Elementary School is where Carrie Shalverus proudly sent her kids to elementary school.
"Those teachers worked magic with an awful lot of students that didn't have the resources my kids have, and my kids benefited from attending that school," Shalverus remarked.
Bennion is one of seven schools the Salt Lake City School District is studying for closure. The district has not closed a school for more than two decades and they've also seen a consistent drop in their school-aged population, but earlier this year they announced they're studying the potential closure of seven schools in Salt Lake City.
"I knew it was going to be painful, but I felt confident at the time when I first heard about it that they had a policy to follow because four years ago we asked them to make a policy to follow and we talked a lot about transparency and equity," Shalverus said, referring back to four years ago when there was talk about Bennion possibly being closed.
East Liberty Park Community Organization Chair, Kristina Robb, says she and others in her community council have been trying to find creative ways to get current families to stay in the district and new families to come into the district. Over the past few weeks, Salt Lake City School District parents have come to the ELPCO with concerns about transparency in the process of evaluating schools for potential closure.
"One of the things that stick out through us all the way through the process is that there have been so upfront issues with the data collection or at least transparency with the way the data has been projected to the public," Robb said.
To help not just the East Liberty Park Community, but all of Salt Lake learn more. Robb and the community council GRAMA requested information about the boundary and population study.
"We immediately received much of the information we asked for, we were denied access to some, we appealed that decision, and won that appeal, as of yesterday they let us know we were entitled to more information," Robb said.
For Shalverus her biggest concern was the lack of meeting minutes in discussions about the school closures.
"We want to understand how decisions are made, we want to know why the seven schools were added to that future study list, and why all the other schools weren't, and I don't feel like we have answers to that right now," Shalverus remarked.
FOX 13 News reached out to the Salt Lake City School District, and they said all public meetings held by the district have meeting minutes, but private meetings or closed parts of public meetings, regardless of topic, do not have minutes nor are they required to.
They also shared a statement with FOX 13 News that says:
"Throughout the boundary study process, the district has complied with Board Policy G-5 and its Administrative Procedures. We will continue to do so. We are also committed to maintaining as much transparency as possible, which is why, when community members visit our website, they will find much of the data we are using in the “further study” portion of this process, including enrollment reports, district boundary maps, demographic reports, and even the public input we’ve received from community members. We will continue to add to the list of data as more information becomes available. We understand how difficult this process is for many of our families. Our hope is that when the district presents a recommendation to the Board, community members will see many of their concerns have been addressed in the final recommendation and will join us during the transition period and beyond in working toward greater equity and opportunity for everyone of our students, no matter where in the city they live."
Robb says the East Liberty Park Community Organization will continue to work closely with the district and request public records on the school closures as needed.
"The timeline has been slow and we're hoping that's not to delay information coming out, but we believe in the school district that they'll do the right thing and help their constituents out," Robb said.
The district is holding public comment on November 7 and November 20. There will also be a public hearing on December 5.
