Fliers from "Friends of Wasatch" were being distributed. Neon stickers advertising support for rebuilding Wasatch Junior High and keeping Canyon Rim Elementary were slapped on shirts that filled the room. And in the middle of the hundreds who came out to Tuesday evening's board meeting sat Chris Drysdale, with a nearly two-foot high foam "W" - for Wasatch Junior High, of course - strapped atop his head.

"We had to sacrifice a good camp cot for this," the father of four said.

The crowd that filled the room, and the overflow conference area, came to witness the Granite school board's first reading of three options recommended to deal with the district's growing enrollment disparities. Off-kilter school populations have resulted in unequal opportunities, as well as skyrocketing maintenance costs for space that is underused. A special committee had spent a bulk of the summer devising proposed solutions and, after presenting them to 12 separate school committees for feedback last month, it was time to bring them to board members - and the riled masses who joined them.

"We thought about [wearing] body armor," joked assistant superintendent David Gourley, as he took his seat at the front of the room.

The ideas - all preliminary - set out to adjust boundaries and networks to keep kids together and school populations adequate. But, in order to pull these goals off, a number of schools may potentially close. And that's where reactions get heated.

"Stakeholders at Wasatch Junior High have done everything anyone could ask in creating an extraordinary school . . .. There's a huge sense of betrayal," explained Dan Lofgren, chair of Friends of Wasatch, outside the meeting. "We've poured our hearts and souls into that school. The reward for that is pulling the rug out from under us?"

In two of the three proposed solutions, Wasatch Junior High - destroyed by fire over the summer - is slated for closure. The fact that it burned was not taken into consideration by the options committee, explained Randy Ripplinger, district spokesman and options committee member.

"Wasatch was to be neither advantaged or disadvantaged because of the fire," he said. "We considered it a standing school."

Instead, Ripplinger said closures were determined after considering a slew of physical factors - including age, size and capacity of buildings, location and accessability, as well as academic performance. So depending on boundary adjustments, if two schools were in place where only one was needed, the better building generally won out.

Parents supporting Wasatch Junior High and Canyon Rim Elementary - feeders into Skyline High - dominated the room, but they were not the only strong voices in the audience.

Julia Tillou, of the Evergreen Junior High PTA, stood before the board and pleaded, "We'd like to be considered not the only throw-away school in this system."

Pointing out the representation in the crowd, Frank Falk asked board members to consider all the district's constituents.

"Ninety-five percent of people [here] are from affluent communities who know how to participate in the process. You should not shortchange those who don't," Falk said.

The meeting was still going strong by the time The Tribune went to press, but board president Patricia Sandstom told the crowd, "Please realize we are very, very aware of your comments. We will listen."

Board members, who say they have received already hundreds of e-mails from concerned constituents, will weigh the options and decide at the Sept. 27 meeting which ones will be presented for further public input. Late Tuesday, board members proposed a fourth option, which would rebuild Granger and Granite high schools as smaller but separate buildings. Open houses will be held in October, before the final decision-making process begins - and ends - in November.

The planning and boundaries department hopes to have all details and maps available online soon. But in the meantime, any questions about boundary adjustments or how your child may be affected can be directed to the office at 801-646-4123.

jravitz@sltrib.com

Open houses

The Granite school board will seek public input before making decisions that will affect district restructuring. The meetings will take place on:

* Oct. 19 From 6 to 8 p.m.

* Oct. 25 From 6 to 8 p.m.

* Oct. 26 From 6 to 8 p.m.

The meetings will take place at the Granite Education Center at 2500 S. State St. in South Salt Lake.