Board grapples with boundary change
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Thursday, January 24, 2008
By SAM COOPER
Standard-Examiner staff
101 Ogden students affected next year
OGDEN -- The Ogden School Board passed a modified school boundary proposal Wednesday evening, moving 101 students from Mount Ogden Middle School to Mound Fort Middle School for the next school year after a lively and, at times, emotional debate.
The board was divided by the proposal after a handful of parents voiced impassioned concerns the boundary shift would increase the number of students at poverty level at Mound Fort, creating inequality among middle schools.
The boundary will affect students in the area roughly between Harrison and Washington boulevards and 25th to 28th streets.
"I think there's an elitist attitude east of Harrison Boulevard," said Sheldon Cheshire, who has a child who may attend Mount Ogden in the future. "There tends to be an attitude that 'I don't want my kids going to school with those types of students,'<2009>" he said.
Currently, Mound Fort is at 88 percent poverty-level students (students who are on the free or reducnch program) and Mount Ogden is at about 60 percent, district officials said.
With the new boundaries, Mound Fort will increase to about 89 percent at poverty level, or 679 students on the program, and Mount Ogden will decline to 55.2 percent, with 470 students at poverty level, officials said.
Tami Youngman teaches at Mound Fort and spoke to the board opposing the proposal. "Spread the wealth a little, if you can find balance, find it. From looking at this map, I don't see balance," she said.
Board member Rick Noorda proposed making the boundary between the two schools 27th Street, from the mountain to the Weber River, but the motion failed when it came up for a vote.
By 9 p.m. Wedenesday, the board had voted four times on three proposals, eventually passing a modified version of the original boundary proposal suggested by board member John Gullo.
Gullo recommended that the board work toward "enhancing" Mound Fort to draw more students to the school by building a multipurpose sports court on district land adjacent to the school in exchange for passing the proposal. The facility, which would have to be funded by the city, would generate income year-round and provide much needed tennis courts for Ogden, he said.
Vice President Joyce Wilson wasn't convinced.
"I'll be honest, I don't want parents saying 'I don't want my kids at Mound Fort. I'm going to send them somewhere else,'<2009>" she said.
Wilson voted against the final proposal, along with board member Christina Morales. Morales was adamant that the board gather more information on the impact of the proposal before making a decision, a suggestion board member Brad Smith questioned.
"I certainly recognize the need for additional information," he said. "I just don't know how that information would be factored in if we had it."
Morales responded by expressing her desire to see economic diversity at Ogden schools.
"We need (students at Mound Fort) to intermingle with kids that will help them stay in school, not drag them down."
About 11 students from Wa Elementary School will not be included in the shift after board members expressed concerns about fracturing another school.
The students would have been required to attend Mound Fort, while the rest of their class would have gone to Mount Ogden.
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