Vote on school plan is today
Fate of Wasatch pupils is main sticking point
The proposed master plan eliminates the middle school that has been the destination for Wasatch students who traditionally end their schooling at nearby Provo High.
With Farrer Middle School scheduled to be converted to an elementary to house students currently attending Joaquin Elementary — which is considered too old to rehabilitate and will be closed — the board must determine whether Wasatch students will move on to Centennial Middle School or Dixon Middle School. While Centennial is closer to Wasatch, students at that middle school traditionally move on to Timpview High, which is farther from Wasatch than Provo High.
And that's the rub. The board could decide to zig-zag the students — sending them to Centennial for their middle grades and then to Provo High — a concept that many parents appear to endorse. But board members worry such a move could create social pattern disruptions that would hurt students in the long run.
"It's a big controversy that goes back a long time," board member Sandy Packard said. "Wasatch is closer to one high school but closer to the other middle school. They (the parents) are just in a quandary about what they want to do."
The parents are not alone.
Board members have struggled for weeks to reach agreement on the specifics of the proposed master plan which calls for three separate phases:
• Closing Joaquin Elementary and converting Farrer Middle School into an elementary for those students.
• Either rebuilding Timpanogos Elementary or relocating its students to excess space in Dixon Middle School.
• Building a new Harbor Park Elementary for students in southwest Provo.
The board supports the plan's basic concepts but disagrees on how to execute and finance it. Public outcries regarding the plan have also played a role in delaying a decision.
"Educating children is our job," board member Carolyn Wright explained. "If they are happier and if their parents understand better and feel some buy-in, the kids will go to school happier. It's worth the patience."
Three possible feeder patterns (see related story) — traditional, mixed and east/west — were drafted by the district as possible ways to divide Farrer Middle School students among the remaining two middle schools.
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