Salt Lake City School District looking at possible school closures

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City School District is beginning a process of seriously looking at closing elementary schools. This comes after a state audit found that enrollment was way down in the district.

The state audit found that the district could better use taxpayer money by closing several schools. Several elementary schools in the district are at less than 50% capacity. 

But SLCSD Superintendent Dr. Martin Bates told the school district board that he doesn’t just want them to close the smallest schools.

“It’s more than just simply looking at numbers and saying ‘ha, we’ve got it.'”

As for when we could see shuttered schools, it won’t be anytime in the next year. The district is in the early stages of making any closure decision.

Right now, the Salt Lake City Board of Education is looking at the best way to even consider all the options.

They’ll have to consider classroom size, population changes, programs like special education and how best to move teachers.

This year will be filled with lots of meetings to discuss options. Then, we’ll see several months of public input, so any closures will be at least a year away.

Related: Salt Lake City School District names interim superintendent