Timpanogos board approves grade changes for 2027-28 and will decide closures in December

The Timpanogos School District board voted unanimously Wednesday to move sixth graders to junior high and ninth graders to high school beginning in the 2027-28 school year, KUTV reported. The district plans to close one junior high and three to five elementary schools, and the board expects to make a final decision on the closures in December. ^[1] The board's agenda for the meeting lists action on a ninth-through-12th-grade high school configuration, followed by a sixth-through-eighth middle school and kindergarten-through-fifth elementary configuration contingent on the first. ^[2] Minutes of the board's Aug. 26 study session say the district has 20 elementary schools, five junior highs and four high schools. ^[3]

About 60 people attended the meeting in Lindon, the second public hearing on the district's boundary study. Parents and educators urged the board to keep schools and programs in their communities. Several parents said closures could mean longer commutes and fewer chances for children to walk or bike to school, and parents spoke in support of Orchard Elementary's Spanish dual language immersion program. Other speakers raised special education, advanced learning, transportation and the possible loss of Title I funding. ^[1]

The district superintendent said the district is building feeder patterns so students who attend the same middle school go on together to the same high school. "I think it's clear that people want to keep their communities together," he said. He said the changes are driven largely by financial needs and declining enrollment. ^[1] The agenda lists Dr. Joseph Jensen as superintendent and six public hearings that evening on proposed closures and boundary changes, including Orchard Elementary and its Spanish dual language immersion program. ^[2]