Canyons School Board hears enrollment fell by 1,134 students

Canyons School District enrolled 30,365 students this fall, down from 31,499 last year, a drop of 1,134 students, according to Oct. 1 enrollment figures the Board of Education reviewed at its Oct. 6 meeting. The board also heard a recommendation to hire MGT Consulting to guide a discussion of boundary changes, and gave a first reading to the 2027-28 school calendar. The minutes are marked pending approval. ^[1]

**Enrollment and growth.** Business Administrator Leon Wilcox gave the long-range planning committee's update. The minutes say The Point development will build homes, town homes and condominiums on 50 acres and is expected to bring about 170 to 200 students eligible to attend Canyons schools, with construction starting in early 2027 and build-out finishing by 2029-30. The minutes also say the Miller Group plans to expand the area around Jordan Commons and the RSL stadium under the recently passed Convention Center Reinvestment Zone statute, with early projections of potentially 700 high-density residential units, most north and west of the stadium. ^[1]

**Boundary consultant.** In a study session, Wilcox said the district issued a request for proposals for K-12 demographic consulting services on Aug. 27. A six-member evaluation team from the Long-Range Planning Committee reviewed the proposals and recommended awarding the contract to MGT Consulting, which the minutes say has worked with Utah districts and is familiar with the enrollment decrease affecting neighboring districts. MGT's team presented its scope of work and its approach to deciding next steps on district boundary changes. The minutes record no vote and give no contract amount. ^[1]

**School calendars.** Tiffany Midgley, the district's human resources director, presented survey results on calendar and schedule preferences. According to the minutes, there was strong support for ending the first semester before winter break, and a fixed A/B day high school schedule was favored over the current rotating model. Stakeholders were evenly divided on where to place professional learning days, with a slight preference for keeping them next to holidays and breaks. The calendar committee evaluated four options for 2027-28. A second reading is planned for the Oct. 20 meeting, along with tentative calendars for 2028-29 and 2029-30. ^[1]

**Votes.** Board members present at the business meeting were President Amber Shill, Vice Presidents Amanda Oaks and Andrew Edtl, and members Katie Dahle, Karen Pedersen and Jackson Lewis, who voted electronically. Holly Neibaur Hayes did not join the business portion. The board unanimously approved its agenda and a consent agenda that included the Sept. 15 minutes, hire and termination reports, purchasing bids, land trust and school plan amendments for Alta View and East Sandy elementary schools, and LEA-specific licenses. ^[1]

On policy, the board unanimously approved the second reading of its nondiscrimination policies and the student attendance policy, Policy 500.35. It did not vote on Policy 300.02, access to public records and retention under the state records law known as GRAMA. The minutes say the policy committee will review it again after getting information about storage capacity on district servers. Two patrons, Celeste Pearson and Drew Pearson, spoke during public comment about the records policy and the GRAMA policy. ^[1]

The board met in closed session first to discuss personnel and property. The minutes note that, because of timing conflicts, property was not discussed. The meeting began at 4:30 p.m. at 9361 S. 300 E. in Sandy. The district's next meeting, on Oct. 20, was noticed as a business meeting and budget hearing. ^[1][2]