West Field HS boundaries would cut into Fremont, Roy territories
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- This aerial photo taken Monday, April 17, 2023, shows West Field High School, taking shape off the northwest corner of 4300 West and 2200 South in the Taylor area.
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- The proposed new high school boundaries in the Weber School District for the 2024-2025 school year, developed to take into account the planned opening of West Field High School, now under construction in the West Haven area.
WASHINGTON TERRACE — Some students in the Weber School District may soon have to start rooting for a new high school team.
The new high school taking shape in the West Haven area — West Field High — would pull students from areas now served by Fremont High and Roy High, according to a proposed new boundary map that’s up for public review.
At the same time, the Fremont High district would extend into territory now within the Weber High district to compensate for the loss of students to West Field High. The boundaries of Bonneville High School — the other traditional high school in the Weber School District — wouldn’t change.
One of the end results would be a reduction in crowding at Fremont, Roy and Weber high schools when West Field High, now under construction, opens for the 2024-2025 school year. Still, some students and others would potentially have to shift high school allegiances as the morphing boundaries put their homes in new high school districts. Either way, the proposed new boundaries, publicly unveiled last week, aren’t set in stone. They’ll be the focus of continued deliberation in the weeks and months to come and maybe face additional tweaking.
“It’s challenging. You’re creating a whole new cone,” said Weber School District spokesperson Lane Findlay. Cones are the systems of high schools and the junior highs and elementary schools that feed into each of them.
An open house was held Tuesday at Orion Junior High School in Harrisville to give the public a chance to learn more about the proposed high school boundaries. Parallel shifts are also proposed in the school district’s junior high and elementary boundaries.
“Overall, I think it seemed to be really well received,” said Findlay, who attended. “I think people understand the justification for it and the reasons for it.”
Another meeting was set for Wednesday at Rocky Mountain Junior High in West Haven with a third to be held Thursday starting at 6 p.m. at Roy Junior High in Roy. Feedback is also being gathered via an online questionnaire at bit.ly/40Dm1ap with Weber school board officials scheduled to formally take up consideration of new boundaries in September.
“Obviously this is a big one with the addition of a new high school, junior high school and elementary school,” Findlay said. He said Weber School District officials haven’t had to ponder such a major shift in school boundaries since the prelude to the opening of Fremont High in 1994.
Aside from West Field High, a new junior high is taking shape in West Haven, Mountain View Junior High, as well as a new elementary school, also in West Haven, a high-growth city in Weber County. The three schools — meant to address continued population growth in the district, particularly in the western Weber County area — are being funded by a $279 million bond issue approved by voters in 2021.
Here are some more details on the proposed boundary shifts:
Geographically, the biggest chunk of West Field High territory would come from what is now the Fremont High district. The area largely south of the 1200 South corridor in western Weber County, now in the Fremont High district and including Hooper and much of West Haven, would become part of the West Field High district
Moreover, a portion of Roy west of Midland Drive and south of 4800 South would move from the Roy High district to the West Field High district.
To compensate for the reduced footprint of the Fremont High district, the area west of U.S. 89 in the Pleasant View and Harrisville area, now in the Weber High district, would move into the Fremont High district.
Numerically, West Field High would draw an estimated 1,368 students for the 2024-2025 school year, 68% of the building’s capacity of 2,000 once finished. Enrollment in Fremont High, expected to be around 2,245 in the 2023-2024 school year, 108% of building capacity, would fall to 1,528 in 2024-2025 with the changes, 73% of capacity.
Enrollment in Roy High would dip from 1,888, 101% of capacity, to 1,789, 96% of capacity. Weber High enrollment would dip from 2,101 in 2023-2024, 104% of capacity, to 1,890, 93% of capacity.
Enrollment at Bonneville High, not impacted by the proposed changes, would hold relatively steady, totaling an estimated 1,436 in 2024-25, 93% of building capacity.
Several committees made up of parents, school officials and others at the school level on up collaborated in coming up with proposed boundary maps. Efforts began in earnest last November. There’s just one proposed new high school boundary map, two proposed new junior high boundary maps and three proposed new elementary school boundary maps.
The preliminary timeline calls for Weber school officials to settle on new boundary maps for the 2024-2025 school year in October. School officials will “continue to get feedback over the next couple months,” Findlay said.
Meantime, Mike Martini, now the principal at Roy High School, has been named principal of West Field High. Matt Patterson, now the principal at Orion Junior High, will become the principal at Mountain View Junior High. The principal has yet to be named for the new elementary school to be built.
Findlay said the new principals will begin their efforts in the 2023-2024 school year, ahead of the planned openings for the 2024-2025 school year, given the many preparations needed.
Ogden School District encompasses the city of Ogden while Weber School District covers the rest of Weber County. As such, the proposed new boundaries for Weber School District schools wouldn’t impact school boundaries in Ogden.