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Letter: It is wrong to close Oquirrh Hills Elementary School

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Granite School District board of education member Terry Bawden makes a motion to close Oquirrh Hills Elementary in Kearns due to poor performance since 2015, as the education board holds a public hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, at the Granite Education Center in Salt Lake City.

The decision to close Oquirrh Hills Elementary in Kearns because of poor performance is a huge mistake.

I attended that school for first grade in 1959. I have fond memories of my experiences there. It was and still is a fine school, with a pool of very good teachers and administrators.

A lot has changed in the past six decades since I lived in that neighborhood. The majority of my classmates were from two-parent families. English was the only language spoken at home and at school. Parents took more personal responsibility in their children’s learning.

The Granite School Board should take a look at successful improvements made in schools in other areas inside and outside the borders of our “pretty great state.” That is what they were hired to do — offer the best education possible to our students, not turn their backs on them.

Kenneth Johnson, Salt Lake City

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