Proposed new Ogden school boundaries to be unveiled, public input sought
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- This is a closeup of the Ogden School District boundary map for 2022-2023, which may change for 2023-2024. Notably, school officials will be getting a recommendation to close James Madison Elementary School, which currently serves the teal-colored area in the center of the image.
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- This map shows boundaries for Ogden School District schools for 2022-2023. School officials will be considering changes, including the possible closure of James Madison Elementary, and new proposed boundaries for 2023-2024 are to be unveiled Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. The district for James Madison Elementary is shown in teal or light blue in the center of the map.
OGDEN — Proposed new boundaries for Ogden schools for the 2023-2024 school year — factoring the expected recommendation to close James Madison Elementary — are to be unveiled at an Ogden school board work session on Thursday, when the public is also invited to comment.
It’ll be a fairly short gathering, though, going roughly from 4-5:15 p.m., but a school rep notes the public will have an opportunity to get more info and ask questions at open houses scheduled for Feb. 8 and 9. Thursday’s meeting will be held at Ogden School District headquarters at 1950 Monroe Blvd. in the board room and it is set to end at 5:15 p.m as the school board is holding a joint work session with the Ogden City Council that starts at 5:30 p.m.
Ogden school officials are planning a public hearing on the boundary plans for Feb. 16 at 6 p.m., when they may officially set school boundaries for the coming year.
The Ogden School District has been contending with declining enrollment, which has already led to the closure of two elementary schools since 2019, Gramercy and Taylor Canyon. Now comes the possibility of James Madison Elementary closing, with students scattering to Polk, New Bridge, Odyssey and Liberty schools.
At the same time, Davis Demographics has been studying population trends in the Ogden School District, also likely bearing on boundary changes. Davis has been preparing the proposed boundary changes for the coming school year and also revamped them last year for the 2022-2023 school, timed with the openings last August of Polk Elementary, which received a massive overhaul, and Liberty Elementary, a new school that replaced T.O. Smith Elementary.
School officials expect the Feb. 8 and 9 meetings will allow for “the most valuable public input” for those wanting to speak out on new boundaries, said Jer Bates, the Ogden School District spokesperson. Also figuring in the new boundaries will be the proposal to temporarily close Hillcrest Elementary so it can be rebuilt, with the students transferring to nearby Bonneville Elementary until the $43 million project is done.
Ogden school reps held open houses last year in getting word out about proposed new boundaries ultimately approved for 2022-2023 “and we feel they provide a better opportunity for community members to become better informed,” Bates said. They allow the public to “engage in direct conversation with district and school administrators rather than the one-way communication afforded in a public comment period during a board meeting,” he added.
At the joint meeting on Thursday with the Ogden City Council, school officials are to provide presentations on “recent successes” and “ongoing challenges.” City Council reps are to discuss the WonderBlock development proposal and plans to redevelop and rebuild the Marshall White Center and Union Station.
City officials have been debating the acquisition of surplus school district property, including the sites of Lynn Elementary and Grandview Elementary, now torn down. That issue isn’t on the joint work session agenda, though.