SALT LAKE CITY — As more and more people move to the Beehive State, school districts are seeing a significant drop in student enrollment numbers.
Two elementary schools closed this year in Ogden. Another two closed in the Alpine School District and the board vowed to revisit more. The Salt Lake City School District is also considering closing seven of its schools.
“Gosh, I think it's been about twenty years," said Yándary Chatwin with the school district. "I think I might have been in the K-12 system when the district was last talking about closing schools, so it’s been a while.”
The school board announced Tuesday that seven schools could have only one year left: Emerson Elementary, Hawthorne Elementary, M. Lynn Bennion Elementary, Mary W. Jackson Elementary, Newman Elementary, Riley Elementary, and Wasatch Elementary.
“Just cause folks are seeing their child’s school on this list doesn’t mean their school is going to close," said Chatwin. "It just means these are the seven worth taking a closer look at."
Chatwin said that in 2014, the district had over 13,000 elementary schoolers. Eight years later, that number barely passed 9,600.
She told FOX 13 News that this is a “societal trend” that other districts are also dealing with.
“Here in Salt Lake specifically, the housing issue Is also a big deal," said Chatwin. "A lot of families are getting pressed out of the city and the folks who are moving in aren’t having as many kids."
Superintendent Luke Rasmussen with the Ogden City School District said they are seeing the same thing: enrollment numbers are dropping. They closed James Madison and Hillcrest Elementary schools this year.
“In a district like Ogden we’re also landlocked, so we do have some growth," said Rasmussen. "We have some buildings being built, but they don’t yield a large student population."
Plus, it was time for the outdated schools to call it quits and move students into newer buildings. Construction crews were out demolishing Hillcrest Elementary Wednesday afternoon.
“Our community has supported bonds to build new elementary schools and they’ve supported us in creating a better environment for our students and that’s part of this," said Rasmussen. "It is a better opportunity for our students to move into a better facility.”
