Changes are coming to some elementary and junior high schools in the Granite School District. 

The Granite Board of Education in March approved a grade reconfiguration for elementary and junior high schools in the Cyprus, Granger and Hunter high school networks in western West Valley City and Magna. The vote was 6-1, with board member Kim Chandler opposed citing ongoing concerns of some parents regarding the potential behavioral issues from mixing the younger students with seventh and eighth graders.

The reconfiguration involves moving sixth grade from elementary to the junior high schools so they will house students in grades six, seven and eight starting with the 2025-26 school year. Impacted junior high schools are Hunter, Kennedy, Matheson, Valley and West Lake STEM. The high schools will continue to span grades nine through 12. 

“I think that the (concerns) that they (District patrons) bring up are going to be outweighed by the benefits,” said board member Julie Jackson. “I do believe that overall we have a majority of people who support this.” 

“What we have to do is make our votes with the best information we have and what we truly believe is best for kids moving forward,” added board member Karyn Winder in support of the reconfiguration. 

Leading up to the board vote, District officials conducted a series of public meetings to explain the proposal. At an open house in Hunter Jr. High School in late February, the plan was laid out before a sparse gathering of parents and others. While there were questions and some concerns, no major or widespread opposition was voiced at the meetings to moving sixth graders to the junior high schools that feed into Cyprus, Granger and Hunter high schools. 

A survey was emailed to parents in the Cyprus, Granger and Hunter networks to gauge their support for the reconfiguration. In fact, most who completed the survey in the Cyprus and Hunter networks favored the changes, while parents in the Granger area were narrowly against it. Sentiments expressed in the survey ranged from parents feeling their sixth graders were ready for the junior high experience and the expanded opportunities, while some were concerned about the availability of certain academic and special education options and the maturity of 11 and 12 year olds in sixth grade to handle the challenges of adolescence in a junior high environment. 

“What I have found personally is that a sixth grader is closer in maturity and size to an eighth grader than a seventh grader is to a ninth grader,” said John Anderson, principal at Olympus Junior High School in Holladay, which has already undergone the reconfiguration that moved sixth-grade students to his campus. “What I have found is that the concern is more with the parents than with the kids. The kids are excited usually,” he added. 

Jennifer Bodell is currently the principal at Whittier Elementary School, but taught sixth grade for 15 years. “I don’t know that I would advocate for this, but our kids seem more ready for a junior high experience,” Bodell said. 

Anderson, Bodell and a parent were part of a panel at the meeting that gave their perspectives on reconfiguration. 

“There are so many more opportunities to do different things, whether it’s sports, MESA (Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement), the different clubs, the different activities. They’re physically ready, they’re emotionally ready, and they’re mentally ready for that change,” Anderson said of sixth-grade students in junior high school.

“I keep hearing this is a done deal. I just want to assure you that is in fact not the case. There have been situations and circumstances where the District makes a recommendation and the board comes back and says ‘maybe not,’” said Granite School District spokesperson Ben Horsley. “We see a lot of benefits on providing kids with additional academic opportunities in a secondary environment, but there are cons as well.” 

In the end, the board agreed that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks and voted to change the grade makeup of several westside elementary and junior high schools. λ