"It's stressful, but it's all worth it," said Suzette Johnson, a first-grade teacher at West Jordan's Columbia Elementary, one of three new year-round schools in the Jordan District that began classes on Monday.
She had been teaching at Columbia's temporary site until July 2, and then had to pack up and move to the new West Jordan digs, where she and other teachers unpacked stacks of cardboard boxes so they could start with a new group of students Monday. The story was similar for teachers at two other new schools: Copper Canyon Elementary, also in West Jordan, and South Jordan Elementary.
The current construction kick in the state's largest school district is part of a $281 million bond approved last year to fund the building of 22 schools over the next several years.
Officials face the challenge of managing a 76,000-student district that is expanding in the Salt Lake Valley's south and west, while shrinking in the north and east. The uneven growth has forced Jordan's board to consider closing several schools in some areas, while building new ones elsewhere.
The three new schools bring the number of year-round elementary schools within Jordan's boundaries to 30 - "the most by far in the state," according to spokeswoman Melinda Colton. The district manages 56 elementaries, she said.
Columbia Elementary, at 7800 South Bangerter Highway, opened with an enrollment of about 635 and a capacity of 955, Colton said. Students at Copper Canyon number about 550, far below its 950-student capacity, Colton said.
But South Jordan Elementary opened on Monday well beyond its new building's capacity. It has about 1,000 students in a school meant for 769. Yet, with three portables, the added children don't pose any problems, say administrators.
"It's OK; we can handle up to six portables," Colton said.
District officials estimate 10 to 15 new schools will need to be built by 2010 to accommodate an estimated 90,000 students, Colton said. The other seven to 12 schools will come on line as needed.
Oakcrest, another new West Jordan elementary school, is scheduled to open in August. It will follow a traditional academic-year calendar. About 530 students have already enrolled, Colton said. It can hold 764 youngsters.
The spokeswoman predicted that these four new schools will reach capacity within four years.
"Do we wish we could build schools faster? Yes," she said. "But we're building them at this rate so taxpayers don't have to pay more. We build as we pay off old debt. By the time these schools are at capacity, we will have money. So far, we're keeping up with growth."
Part of that plan includes the school board and a 55-member committee currently reviewing options that range from maintaining the status quo to closing 13 elementary and two middle schools on the district's north and east areas, including Cottonwood Heights, Midvale, Sandy and West Jordan.
A decision is expected early next year, but district officials and school board members have said that it is highly improbable 15 schools would close.
Instead, Superintendent Barry Newbold expects the board will decide to shut two to four schools. That would save $18 million to $43 million initially, and from $714,000 to $2 million every year after that. Over the long haul, district officials say school closures will save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
mcronin@sltrib.com
