EDUCATION + SCHOOLS

Canyons District considers consolidating low-enrollment elementary schools, seeks public input

Jun 25, 2025, 5:23 PM | Updated: 5:32 pm

Canyons School District bus...

A Canyons School District bus is pictured outside of the Capitol in Salt Lake City, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

SALT LAKE CITY — While the home prices go up in the Canyons School District, the number of elementary school students is going down. 

Now, the Canyons School District has launched a boundary study. The district is looking at eight elementary schools that have had low enrollment in the past few years.

Related:  Utah schools working to address chronic absenteeism

“What it would take to either consolidate school communities and provide possibly new schools for those combined communities, or any other issue that we could do to enhance the academic offerings at those schools,” said Canyons School District Spokesman Jeff Haney.

Haney told Midday with Maria that there are a number of reasons for the low enrollment numbers, but the big one is that young families are getting priced out of the area.

“The average cost of a home in the Canyons School District is $740,000,” he said. “For young families with small children who would go to our elementary schools, that’s just a little bit financially out of reach for them,” Haney said.

Related:  Utah ranks tenth in the nation for most income spent on housing

Since the 2018-2019 school year, enrollment numbers have dropped by about 1,700 elementary students.

The district has posted all the information about the boundary study online and is asking for public feedback. No matter what decisions are made, they would not take effect until at least the 2026-2027 school year. 

Heather Peterson is a reporter and producer for KSL NewsRadio. 

 

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Canyons District considers consolidating low-enrollment elementary schools, seeks public input