Dixon Community Meeting Jan. 31, 2024

February 1st, 2024 /
Shauna Sprunger /
News, PCSD School Board

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 the district held a Dixon community meeting to discuss the future use of the Dixon Building. Below is the slides used for the presentation, the audio recording and the transcript

If you would like to add your voice, you are welcome to take the survey that was provided during the meeting.

Well, good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for coming out, uh, this evening to talk a little bit about what we’re going to do with this awesome site of Dixon Middle School and to get your feedback and ideas. Um, my name is Superintendent Dau. I am new to Provo City School District. I started in July.

It has been awesome to be here. So, I really appreciate, um, you coming to share your ideas. I, I appreciate the opportunity to hear concerns that you have. I, I, because I am new to the district, I need to make sure that I’m getting all of the different, um, perspectives. Especially those of you that are living in this neighborhood.

And so, this is really important to all of us. We have several board members with us, um, tonight. So, we have Gina Hales, who’s back here. We have, uh, Meg Van Wagenen, who’s right here, we have Lisa Boyce, who is right here, and I think that might be it. Oh, I have Jennifer Partridge. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Jennifer, I did not even see you.

So, thank you to our board members for being here. This is a really important project to all of us in, in figuring out what our next steps are. And so I just wanted to thank all of you again. So I want to talk a little bit about just the format of the meeting. Um, what we’ll do is we’ll just start with, I’m going to explain some of the needs that we have as a district.

In terms of our overall, um, building needs and things that we’re looking at basically for the next 10 years of things that we need to focus on. And then once, um, that happens and I kind of go through that, then I’m going to turn the microphone over to each one of you. Whoever would like to talk, you would just come up to the front, tell us your name, um, if your kids go to any schools or if you live around this neighborhood.

And then just express concerns that you might have, ideas that you might have, um, things that you would like to see, um, here at our Dixon site, um, and share any information that you feel would be helpful for both myself and for our board members. And then we’re compiling all of that information, um, to take to the Board of Education in a presentation sometime before spring break.

Um, I will also then share with you some of the ideas that we have brainstormed as a board, but recognizing that this is just a starting place. Um, we got some really great ideas and great feedback last week at Timpanogos Elementary. So I’m excited to visit with each of you and to hear, um, what you have to say.

So, um, when you come up, you’ll say what you would like to see at Dixon. What is really important to you to make sure it’s maintained in our neighborhood here? Um, what are some ways we can, that you’re thinking about as you, as we go through those needs as a district? That we can fulfill those needs, as well as the needs of our community here.

Um, and then, uh, we are going to, there will be a QR code at the end, where you can provide, um, some feedback through a survey. That will also be available out on, um, the website, and we’ll be emailing that as well. And we’re recording this entire meeting, so people who can’t be here can go in and listen to it, and also provide feedback as well.

And then we also have some, um, hard copies of the surveys as well. If you prefer paper, pencil, we can accommodate that too, to make sure we get all of your feedback. So first off, we just want to identify the purpose is to really just get ideas, and for me to really gain an understanding of, um, of what you need this site to be.

I, I do need to understand the history of it. I’ve heard lots about it, but I, it, I think it’s very important that I get to hear from you. Um, I know there’s a lot of emotion that is tied to this particular site, and so I need to hear those things so that I, I, my job is to convey those things to the board of education um, as they’re making decisions. So those things are very important. Um, I want to thank Shauna Sprunger for being here. She’s from our communications department and she’s going to help us. She’s recording this and then she helps us with all of the notes and making sure that I don’t miss anything and that I capture everything.

Um, we want to design a long term plan for Provo City School District that makes sense. We want to make sure that we are rebuilding trust. I hear that quite a bit. That there’s been some trust lost um, between, uh, Provo City School District and particularly this community, and my job is to help rebuild that.

Um, we also want to be fiscally responsible. We want to make sure that we’re, um, building facilities that we need. Um, that fulfill the needs of our students, um, and that also, uh, benefit our community as a whole. So a lot of times we can really maximize buildings and maximize spaces and use when we’re really creative about how we use that.

Um, and so just noting that we want to meet the needs of our Dixon neighborhood. And then we do have lots of construction projects that we have to look at as a whole, uh, district. So we want to make sure that we have a long term plan. It is to be noted, and, and I have so appreciated every single board member reiterating this, that the, this Dixon site is a number one priority for our school board.

And so, um, hence why we are here at this point in time. So that’s why I put the most important thing focused on the Dixon site. Um, would it be helpful if I made this presentation also available on the web so that people could See that okay, then you don’t have to worry about taking pictures of it and I can make sure that’s available to you. I’d be happy to do that.

Um, so some of our current needs first and foremost in my mind – it’s I want to build good relationships with all of Provo, but in particular our Dixon neighborhood I have a really special soft spot for Dixon Middle School, but I, it was in 1993, I was doing my practicum at BYU and I was assigned to come to Dixon Middle School and it was seen as being a very innovative place because they were doing teaming at the time in middle school.

So the kids went through and they had a cohort of teachers and just to listen to the teachers talking about the impact that that made and how dedicated the educators were to this school. So I, I don’t know. It’s just interesting how some of our lives sometimes come back full circle. So, um, and that model, by the way, has been utilized in several, um, schools that have really high academic performance to that teaming model that kind of originated at Dixon Middle School.

So lots of innovation and really great things. Um, one of the other needs that we have as a district that most people don’t even know about is a facility that’s called East Bay Post High. Um, we actually have a high school for our students with, um, special needs from the ages of 18 to 22. They are currently housed, basically, in a strip mall warehouse, if you will. It does look like classrooms, but it is in a strip mall, um, over by Sam’s Club. And we have 33 students in that particular program, and they range from all sorts of cognitive abilities, and we’re really teaching them a lot of life skills, like how they can be an independent adult. Um, we need them in a school.

We need them to feel like they’re part of our community and not another that’s, um, sitting out, uh, in another location, and so we’ve expanded that space temporarily for the next three years so that they have the space that they need. We’ve been able to rent some additional space, but I would really like us to see that we make that a part of our plan somewhere in our district.

And we have lots of different places where we can do that, so we’ll talk about it. It doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be at the Dixon site, but it is a priority for us to take care of our students with special needs. We also have a need to expand our vocational and technical education offerings. So, our, each of our high schools have differing programs in them.

Some of them have woodworking or metalworking. Some of them have welding programs, um, diesel mechanic programs. Um, in speaking with our career and technical education, uh, director, we have a demand for more programs and our high schools don’t have space to actually add on for those specific programs.

And it actually makes more sense to have it in a centralized location where students from both high schools can take advantage of that. These would be strands of career and technical education like robotics, engineering, aviation, um, we have a need for an education strand where we have talked about we could have a site for a daycare and we have students that are earning college credits in early childhood education.

So we have a lot of different ways in which we could be expanding the opportunities that we’re providing to prepare students. for after high school. Um, we’re not, we’re not just thinking that everybody goes to college anymore. That’s definitely great for a large number of our students, but we want to make sure that there’s lots of different options for them.

We do have a great relationship with, um, MTEC, Mountainland Technical College, um, but they, we’re also competing for spaces with them at, uh, with Alpine and Nebo school districts. And so sometimes we want to make sure that we have some protected programs for our students here at Provo City School District.

Um, we also want to make sure that we have community resources and, and available to our, uh, Provo City School District and, and that it’s located where our communities need them. So for example, here at Dixon, we have, um, adult ESL classes. Um, we have adult ed and community ed programs that are, that are run specifically out of this site.

We have them also over at Independence High School. We’ve got them in all of these different little satellite locations, and it would be great to be able to expand those offerings so we’re serving our community more effectively. We’ve talked about, I was talking with the principal at Timpanogos Elementary, Principal Rawlins.

And she was talking about how she doesn’t have any more physical space at her school to have like a principal’s pantry, that she needs more room for those kinds of things to really make sure that our community is taken care of. So those are some needs that we need to figure out. Where would those things go?

Um, do we even want to have, there are districts that create partnerships, for example, for um, counseling services for families and, um, uh, those kinds of things. Do we want to create a center where those things would be available for students and parents and what might that look like? But that’s, that’s a need.

We have a lot of community resources that we’re providing. And we need to be able to have a location for that. And then it’s become very apparent to me that the green space at Dixon is very important. We have a lot of pickup games that happen here. We have, that’s just an important. um, part of this community, and something that we need to make sure that we’re paying attention to, and that we preserve.

So, those are some of the things that we’ve talked about there. Um, another program that we have, um, is called the Center for Advanced Professional Studies, it’s known as our CAPS program. We currently house this at the Nu Skin Building. Um, so they’ve been very gracious in, in helping us find this space.

We are looking at trying to expand that program. There are four different strands where students get to work with actual businesses to help them solve a problem or design a product or design an app. They get to really experience real world things like how to communicate with a client, how to follow a plan, how to follow a budget, all of those things that they’re going to need um, if they want to be successful after high school, and so we have great partnerships with surrounding businesses to help support us with that, but it would be great if, if, you know, Nu Skin ever kicks us out of that building. I don’t know that they will, but if they did, we need to make sure we have a place for this program to continue.

Um, and, and we would also like to expand it to include a computer programming, um, strand of that as well as an education strand. So, we definitely have a need to make sure that that program is sustained. It’s one of – it’s an awesome program. I could talk about it for a very long time because I get very passionate about what the kids learn in that.

Um, we also do need a district office at some point. We do have a district office. We do have several district office spaces and they’re kind of scattered across Provo. And so at some point, we’re going to have to figure out where that’s going to be located and how we can make sure that we’re serving, um, our community more effectively.

Um, we’re not looking at that district office to be at the Dixon site. We have other places for that to go. We just want you to be aware that it is a need that we have as a, as a district. We have also had lots of employees ask us if there was a way we could provide somewhere a centralized location for a daycare or preschool.

There are several districts that are now implementing this as a way to recruit and retain teachers. And I don’t know how much you know about the salaries of teachers in Provo City School District versus Alpine and Nebo, but we are below those two other districts. And so anything that gets us an edge, um, is certainly helpful as we’re trying to get the best qualified teachers. I will say that I, I think our, um, human resources department or business and finance departments have worked really hard to keep improving teacher salaries and that is still a huge priority for us.

So don’t think that we’re putting that on the back burner because in no way are we doing that would just be kind of great if we could also provide possibly that as a service. And the way that it works with universities is you can set up actually a child care lab where students are earning college credit by serving in those labs and we’re taking care of teachers kids at the same time in a really safe space.

Just some ideas that we have talked about there. We do need to finish Timpview High School. We have only finished the first phase of that construction. Um, it does need, um, a new arts wing. It needs a new industrial wing. It needs new cafeteria. Um, and so we have an obligation to make sure our students are safe.

And so, um, we, we do, we do need to look at what that timeline looks like and um, and how we’re going to accomplish that. And then eventually at some point, this is, this is pretty far down our list., um, but we do need at, at some point probably a shared athletic space for training and practice purposes for both Provo and Timpview High schools.

Um, the reasoning for that is that, um, the High School Athletics Association keeps expanding the number of sports that are available. And as you do that, you need more space um, for teams, you know, now I have eSports, I had no idea that playing video games is a sport, but it apparently is a very big one and very lucrative, just in case you were wondering.

Um, but, uh, looking at a space that could be dual use, so it could be used by both high schools rather than, um, adding on to one or the other, but something that we share, um, we’re kind of thinking that that’s a, that’s a better approach. That to me is like a year 10, it’s, it’s a ways down there. We need to make sure we have good access to community resources and we have safe schools for our students, so.

Um, and then finally, we have to evaluate other buildings that are starting to get old, like Westridge Elementary, Canyon Crest Elementary. Um, if we rebuild those schools, do we need to look at boundary shifts to make sure we’re maximizing our spaces? What does, what does that look like, and what decisions are going to be made there, and how are those decisions part of this, um, longer range plan?

Most of all, we just need to be transparent. We need to explain, these are the decisions that are being made, this is how it fits into that 10 year plan, this is how we’re, this is how we’re going to pay for it, this is the impact that it has on each of our communities in Provo City School District. And it just has to be layered and communicated out over and over in a very clear way and have open dialogue.

Um, and then, of course, we always have ongoing maintenance. You know, this school will need a new roof, or like Franklin Elementary needed a new roof. Well, you gotta put on a new roof. You can’t not have a functioning roof. So, there’s always going to be things like that that we have to maintain. So these are things that need to go into this plan as well.

So that, that kind of gives us, gives you an idea of some of the things that we’re looking at from in the, you know, obviously most of these things won’t be completed for two to three years for even us to design and then start to construct and finance and all of those pieces of it, but um, I hope that that will kind of give you an idea of where we’re starting from.

So, I would love to hear your ideas, state your name, tell us where you live, um, and then, I was so happy last week, people were so respectful, so kind, I would like to ask that you keep your comments to three minutes, so that anyone who would like to be part of this and express their opinions would have an opportunity to do so, um, and then just note that we are recording the meeting and taking notes.

And that, um, we will share this feedback in a board meeting, as well as, um, push it out to our entire community. So, with that, who wants to go first? Do you want to go first? I, you might have to come up to the front, because my cord isn’t very long. And then just face them. That’ll be great. And I’ll sit down.

JOshua: I’ll, I have to help with bedtime, so I’ll go first. Okay. My name is Joshua Brewer. I went to Rock Canyon, I went to Centennial, I went to Timpview. Um, I love Provo. Um, uh, my family moved here a few years ago. We love it here. When we moved here, it hadn’t been decided yet that Dixon was leaving, and then it was decided.

And we had imagined for ourselves that our kids would always be able to walk to school. And we’re still, we’re very grateful that we’re still so close to Timpanogos, but sad that Dixon Middle School has left. Um, I’m excited. I’m glad to hear that, uh, the district is prioritizing our teachers. I think our teachers are so important.

I’m, I’m concerned that a lot of folks in my generation and younger are unable to afford homes. And I think it is a kind of chilling condemnation of our society that many teachers are unable to afford homes. Um, when the Maeser Elementary School in Central Provo was closed, it was sold to the Provo Housing Authority, and it was turned into homes for seniors.

And I think that kind of creative solution, um, is extremely, is the kind of thing that we should look to. I heard floated the idea that this site could be made, into homes that could be then offered to our teachers. And I think that would be a huge benefit to our teachers in terms of, I don’t know, the retention or what.

Um, but I think that would help a lot of teachers be able to afford homes that are currently unable to. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say that they wish they could move here in the neighborhood and there’s just not something. So, that’s my suggestion. I think we should look to maybe some non traditional solutions, but I, I think homes for especially our teachers would be a wonderful solution.

You can just lay it down. Next person.

Aaron: Hi, I’m Aaron Skabelund. Excuse me. I’m Aaron Skabelund and I live in the Riverdale neighborhood, uh, to the north of here. Um, I, uh, read the last week’s, uh, the transcript of last week’s meeting and I want a second one. Eric Chase and Andrea Busby and, and, uh, Mary Wade said, um, and, uh, I’m hoping that the district going forward will make decisions, um, based on not just what is best for the bottom line, but what is best for our community.

And that really pays attention to what makes Provo unique. That it’s the most urban environment in Utah County. That a lot of people, like the gentleman and others, uh, live here for that reason. They want a walkable place to live. And even though I don’t live in the Dixon neighborhood, I care about all of Provo’s neighborhoods.

Because I care, uh, about making it, uh, welcoming people to Provo. Um, I like people. I don’t want to keep people out. Um, I, I think we should be inclusive, um, not just about a variety of different people, but welcoming more people, uh, to our great community. Um. I won’t delve into the past too much, but just to say that it’s not only Dixon being moved to the hinterlands, but before that, Provo High being moved out of the center of our community after it really felt like a bait and switch, I actively campaigned for the bond for Provo, was part of the conversations about how we make, uh, um, It’s easier for, uh, people, kids, especially to get to Provo High in ways other than just a car.

Uh, was active in those discussions about how we make that campus work. And then it gets pushed out to the middle of nowhere. And, um, I hope, uh, that we, the district going forward, uh, will not, will kind of, stop trying to build suburban schools in an urban environment. I know you have some rebuilds coming up, and I think we need to do a better job with those.

Because not only the rebuilds that happened about a decade ago, um, they’re still very much a suburban model. And I just want to mention one, uh, specific issue. I was, uh, involved, uh, in the stakeholder committee. For the rebuild of 500 West State Street that happened a few years ago. Um, I, uh, we met many times at, at, uh, Timpanogos Elementary. Um, and I, uh, represented those who cared about bikeability and walkability, um, on that, on that committee. And we pushed really, really hard for, uh, it was clear that the, the tunnel under State Street was going to disappear. We went to every length we could to make that service crossing safe, uh, for kids who live over in Timpanogos neighborhood and elsewhere.

That’s, I think we did what we could, uh, but along with that, we also pushed for traffic homing measures and better access, uh, to, um, Dixon, because I thought Dixon was going to be here, uh, so I suggested a bike. At an intersection over here on 300 North, because I thought this will provide a great route for kids to walk and bike, scoot to school.

And I was surprised that our city engineer at the time said, yeah, we’ll do that. So it sounds like the school district is going to hold on to this, uh, this site. Um, I hope you’re creative. Um, I’m not going to recommend anything specific, but I hope that you will connect, uh, that 300 North crossing across the campus. Not a road. Don’t ever build a road there. You don’t need any more roads. But a trail, uh, to reconnect the grid for people on bike and foot. Um, and I think there’s really ways. So, so basically this is how you connect. Uh, this facility and, goes to my, what I was talking about before, other school campuses, how do we better connect them to the communities which they ought to serve and where they ought to be in our downtown neighborhoods.

And then, um, also, I’m, uh, uh, an historian, uh, you’re, you’re, you’re a graduate of our art program, uh, Superintendent Dau, and, um, so I’d like to make a plea for, for, for history, um, for, uh, preserving history. At least the façade part of the Old Historic Building, uh, in whatever plans you, you make. So, that was longer than, uh, three minutes, but historians are long winded.

Totally right. Thank you. Long winded. Thank you.

Mara: Hello, my name is Mara, and I live here. Um, and I am going to follow the historian because my suggestion is very much about historical preservation. As well as downtown urban prioritization. Um, I’m from New England. And we specialize in preserving history. And it makes a great tourist attraction for the fall foliage.

Um, and one of my criteria for moving to the west was I wanted to live in a setting like I grew up in. Which involved downtown, walkable, bikeable, nature, community. And I find suburbia to be – that would be an environment that me and many other like minded people that I’m friends with in this community do not want.

So, I am only interested in living in like small, walkable downtowns and have invested in old fixer upper to preserve even though sometimes it comes with headaches because I really value that. and I love walking by Dixon and other historical buildings like the Maeser Neighborhood School that was mentioned and seeing the care that has gone into preservation of these these monuments.

Um, in addition, I think a lot of these, I love seeing people, uh, use Dixon in our community at the education programs that were mentioned, the adult resource programs. I love seeing that happen at nights and I can see how it brings the neighborhood together and it makes the neighborhood safer. Um, we were, the advertisement, uh, said, bring your suggestions.

Um, so I’m bringing a suggestion. I, I was part of the group that was going door to door, the Save Dixon group. So I, of course, would love it for educational purpose. My number one hope would be to see part of the historic building preserved. It is true beauty in the neighborhood. And it really, it really is a stellar. Um, I think it really enhances the downtown beauty, and I would also love to see it preserved as a community resource, but at least the historic part.

I have a very dear friend who, um, she’s actually part of Riverdance, the Irish, uh, yeah, dance company, and ended up, she’s in Sacramento, California, part of an initiative in her community. To, uh, there was an old, I think, similar era school, because I walked through it, uh, maybe 1920s, 1930s, a beautiful school, similar to Dixon, that had become, had been abandoned by the school district and, uh, just left to disrepair for a period of time and become a place where the homeless were sheltering.

And there was an initiative by a local group, also. Sorry, a group of local citizens, um, to and working with the school board and local government to form a nonprofit that partnered with the district to create, uh, A center for performing arts that was, would rent space to businesses like hers, she runs an Irish dance school, but also now houses the Sacramento Ballet, some of their facilities, but then they would get a discounted rent.

In order to, um, offer free services to the Sacramento Public Schools. And so all of these businesses that get the discounted rent all also offer a service to schools in exchange for. And what has happened, this initiative started in 2013. My friend was one of the first businesses to set up in 2016, I believe, and I just visited a couple years ago, and it has brought all the value up in the neighborhood.

It has attracted people who are preserving old homes. It has brought the community together. And now this is a thriving resource, not just for local businesses, but also for the public schools and the Winsor Hertz Center. So, there’s just an idea from that. And if anyone’s interested, I can send links and put them in contact with my friend, who was one of their first people.

Gloria: My name is Gloria Wheeler, and I live just off the corner, up the northwest corner of the playing field. And, uh, I don’t have a lot of creative ideas, I just have a couple of thoughts. One is about preserving the school building as much as it is possible. Several years ago, my sister and I returned to our hometown of Kalispell, Montana, and we’re incredibly delighted to find that our elementary school was still there, and is still a gem in that town, and people are proud of that.

That school has been there since the 1920s. It’s a center for things going on. I thought, you know, when they, when they moved Provo High School out to the hinterlands, I was broken hearted. I am single, I don’t have kids that have ever been here. I didn’t grow up in Provo, I grew up in northwestern Montana.

But, to me, schools in the heart of the city are really the heart of the city. And it, and it hurts that all the schools are being sent out to where every single person has to be bused to school. Where I grew up, walking to school until the day I graduated. So, I’m hoping that, however it is done, and however creatively it is done, this, at least the core of the building, the heart of this building, can be preserved.

And the other thing that is really important to me, is because we live right off the corner of the playing field, we see how much this playing field is used and how important it is to our neighborhood. You have to be a hermit not to be using this playing field. People walk around it. I think it’s practically used 24 hours a day for soccer.

I can’t believe the number of soccer things that go on there. But, you know, people play with their dogs, they play with their kids. They play in the sandbox, which wasn’t intended as a sandbox, but, uh, but it has become a neighborhood sandbox. All of these things are really important to the feel of our neighborhood.

And I’m not sure where else I could go out if I wanted to, and I do sometimes. Ten o’clock at night I can walk around the block by myself. And I’m not worried. I want to preserve that in our neighborhood. The playing field and the building, at least the core of it, are really important.

MIchelle: Okay, this is a little intimidating for me, sorry. Um, and so I just wrote notes on my phone, so hopefully I’m not staring at my phone the whole time. Um, so I’m Michelle Sekaquaptewa. My husband works here at Dixon. He’s a counselor. My daughter goes here to Dixon. My children go to Timpanogos Elementary in the Spanish Immersion Program.

We live in as far south of Provo as you can get. We are down there in, uh, where they’re building all the townhomes down there. So that’s where we live. Um, I taught at Timpanogos for 10 years. And so it’s got a special place in my heart. Um, I helped open that building when it was first built, and I can tell you, the day, the second we moved in, we were already at full capacity, overflowing.

And so my suggestion is to move Timpanogos over here for that reason, and also because it’s on that busy street. And there have, I don’t think recently, but there have been children hit by cars on that busy street. I, I don’t know what I would do if it was one of my students, um, who got hit by a car or one of my children.

Um, and the traffic over there, ’cause we’re not a busing school is crazy. So I think it would be better if Timpanogos was moved here. There’s a little more space for traffic to get around. Um, and also the, I know at least in the lower grades, I taught in lower grades, the Spanish immersion classes there are huge, they’re almost at 30 a piece.

In my first graders class, and I feel like that’s way too many and so having more space to put more kiddos and, um, especially because we’re an open enrollment district, lots of people are going to want to come to the Spanish learning program. And I, I did want to say thank you for prioritizing teachers because I did teach in this district.

I substitute right now, but, um, thank you, um, superintendent for prioritizing teachers and their pay, their paychecks. Um, and also I, I agree with being creative and using the space wisely. If we keep the amount of space we have here, we can have elementary school here. and community programs, STEM programs, preschools.

I would love to have childcare here. Um, even though my parents live in South Provo as well, it would just be really nice to not have to drive out there and drive to school wherever I’m working. Um, and, you know, moving some of those programs over to here, I think there’s plenty of space for an elementary school and community programs, STEM programs, all that kind of stuff.

Um, let me just make sure I’ve got everything. Um, and in South, I’ve talked to the City Council and the Mayor about this, but South Provo especially is growing so big that we’re going to need space for more kiddos to come in and more students to come in and we can’t just keep throwing them into huge classes and, and, and doing that.

And so, I feel really strongly that smaller class sizes and safety are a huge priority in our community and, um, I would love to see that school moved off of that busy street and, and making it a little more safe for our kids.

Shannon: Hi, I’m Shannon Bingham. I live in the Timpanogos neighborhood. Um, Michelle taught my, um, taught three of my kids at Timpanogos Elementary School. I do disagree with you, Michelle. Um, as far as, I, I haven’t, my kids have been walking to and from Timpanogos for, let’s see, 15 years now. Um, I used to be a crossing guard in that area.

I’m not concerned about the street it being a busy street. If we want smaller classroom sizes, I think boundary changes would be, um, an effective thing with Franklin Elementary School shrinking in size. And, and that, and those two schools being, what, like six blocks from each other, Timpanogos and Franklin.

Um, if we want to keep our classroom sizes small, let’s, let’s do something about, um, boundaries. Um, there are five historic neighborhoods in downtown Provo. The Joaquin, Maeser, Franklin, Timpanogos, and Dixon. All of them have, um, a school, um, at the heart of their neighborhood, and Joaquin is gone. We see what has happened to Joaquin, um, once the school was removed.

I mean, uh, that, that exacerbated the, of the issues with the Joaquin neighborhood. Um, Maeser, we see what happened with Maeser when that school was removed. Um, it’s, I’m really concerned about what’s going to happen here with, um, Dixon. And this is something that I would really hope is taken into consideration when whatever plans, um, go forth here.

I would like to see the 1931 historic portion saved, if at all possible. Um, moving the district offices, uh, to the Tipenovos Elementary site, I’ve heard that banting around. I think that’s a really poor decision. Um, uh, district offices can go anywhere. Um, the, let’s see, somebody mentioned, uh, you right here talking about how, uh, the high school was, I, I think of fall nights when we could hear the high school games being played near our house.

I live near the Provo Rec Center and you know, just the heartbeat of the city, um, was taken out in a way when, uh, with the move of ProvoHigh and now the move of, of Dixon, um, to the end of the city as well. It, it takes a part of the community. When you move a school out of a neighborhood, especially a downtown historic neighborhood, it really takes a piece of, of that community.

So, whatever happens here, Um, we love continued, um, input, um, as a community, um, and we wish you the best in whatever you decide goes here.

David: Thank you. My name is David Harding. Um, Michelle also taught a couple of my kids. It’s been a wonderful teacher. I, I would love to, to understand the concerns about the busy streets. There’s a lot of people who have to cross those busy streets but still need to cross them at the new location. Um, I, I I’m worried that a school that was rebuilt 15 years ago is now, if we would consider abandoning something after just 15 years.

I do think there were some short sighted decisions made last minute on that that prevents it from being expanded, if I remember this correctly. Um, and I’m hopeful with what the board is doing now, and Superintendent Daul, but let me thank the board and the superintendent for this meeting, for, um, for reaching out.

Um, you talked about rebuilding trust, and I feel like you guys have done a great job starting that process and um, for anyone who hasn’t been paying super close attention, at least for for me, um, I feel like they’re making all the correct steps to rebuild that trust and the transparency that they’re talking about.

It’s been very, very urgent. So I keep keep with it. I really appreciate that. Um, I should roll down my notes on my phone. Um, I agree. Okay. that with, you know, school being, you know, school being about the heartbeat of the city. And when it gets taken out, um, not only do we lose a piece, but we also threaten the area.

It puts us more at risk of blight. And anywhere in the city that’s blighted is going to affect the entire city. It’s going to affect the property taxes that the school can collect that are needed to educate the kids. So it’s really in the best interest of everyone across the entire city, all parts of the city are healthy and thriving and we need, we need our schools to do that. People talk about the history of schools being removed from care. So, um, for me, Dixon has been a very important community center and list all the history of the different programs that are housed here. The number one program housed here that is, makes it such a important piece of community, such a community center, is the middle school.

And so obviously decisions have been made, a new element, a new middle school has been built, but growth is, we have, we continue to have growth, we will, hopefully if we don’t make Central, Central Provo hostile towards families, hopefully we will still have more families moving in, we, um, I hope that the district, as you’re doing your long term planning and whatnot, will take a look at what those needs are and even consider Um, a lot of, a lot of talk has been placed on how Shoreline has been to expand.

I hope it never expands. I hope a school, a middle school for 1,100 students, I hope it is, as you look for that data driven information, that’s large, large enough. Hopefully we never go past that. I believe we’ll need a third middle school in the future. Hopefully this site is still available in that future, whether it’s 10 years, 15 years, whatever.

Um, it would be a wonderful place for a third middle school. Um, and so, to me, that becomes the long term plan of the district. Then, the question is just, what do we do in the meantime? I think there are a lot of important needs that could be done in the meantime. Come up with a creative plan for how to, um, you know, use or remodel or replace whatever is necessary in the short term, but with the idea that The long term plan is when the student population justifies it, it becomes middle school once again um, and really becomes, uh, can continue to be that center of the community. Thank you. But anyway, um, I really like what’s been said, uh, tonight. Uh, even though this is not our neighborhood, per se, but this is, uh, where we’ve played tennis for the last 26 and a half years. Um, and I, I know, uh, I like some ideas in terms of preserving open space.

Um, I’ve tried to work with the city to encourage them to, you know, build other tennis courts, but there’s no tennis courts in the center of the city anymore, besides the Rec Center. Um, with Provo High’s courts now on BYU, uh, there, and there’s still no tennis courts in southwest Provo. In this area, uh, and the city says we’re not going to do that, we’re going to pickleball for us.

Um, so, the, but anyway, so I like any of these ideas that help preserve this neighborhood, preserve the facade of the school at least, and then It’s really, it’s, it’s cheaper to, I know it’s not the school district’s thing to do recreational facilities per se, but it is good to have, have a kind of place people can come together.

And I like what’s been said about this being an open space for people to enjoy. And I’m sure I’m willing to try to help keep the courts going. I have a polka music on the tennis courts so we can play because it is the closest place for our family to play. So, thanks. Thank you.

Alan: I’ll try to make this quick. Uh, I’m Alan Seawright. Um, we have lived in the Franklin neighborhood. Our children attended, uh, Timpanogos Elementary. Well, two of them are still there. One’s here. I don’t know. It’s all falling apart. It’s been a long day. It’s been a long day. Um, but we’re, we’ve been deeply invested in the downtown neighborhoods, even though we live in Grandview.

I’m talking. Um, And it was, we felt that it was a tragedy that this site kind of got abandoned for, again, a school in the hinterlands. Uh, and the main thing, I agree with just about everything everybody’s been saying,

A community is built around its schools. Uh, I have so many friends, um, my age and younger who are raising young children and they, almost all of them that I speak with, want to live in downtown Provo. They want the type of community that we have here. And to see, I mean, most of them can’t afford it because we have structural issues in the United States, but that’s not the school board’s problem.

Um, but to also see that the, the school board and just the, the lack of investment in what makes Provo unique in the valley and to a large extent unique in the state has been disheartening. It is lovely to see that, uh, there seems to be more community engagement and transparency and all of that. Uh, I just hope to see this site preserved for educational use, for community use, for all the things that everyone’s talked about.

The open space, the safe nature of what this is. And, um, yeah. Wild crazy out there idea. If we need a third high school, we could make a small, like, STEAM high school here. I don’t know if you’re familiar with STEAM. It’s like science, technology, and arts and music. But, if a third middle school is needed, also cool.

If they want to move to Timpanogos over here, also cool. Just, let’s keep the school.

Marie: My name is Marie Shelley. I have lived less than a mile from here my entire life. I went to Dixon Junior High. My mother, all of my aunts and uncles all went to Dixon Junior High. My children all went here and I have grandchildren that currently go here. I have a real history with this neighborhood and with the Dixon building.

The original building was always such a beautiful building and it was something that meant so much to so many of us for so many years. I would really love to see the old main part of the building, the historical part, be kept. I would love to see that. Uh, I think it’s an addition to the, to the feeling and the aura of this neighborhood.

Um, Also, um, I wanted to say that, uh, uh, uh, one memory, when my husband and I were here going to school, I remember standing on the northeast corner of the then building when they announced President Kennedy’s assassination. Uh, so there’s, there’s a history here for a lot of us, and there are emotions, and there are feelings, but if we can keep that part, that would be amazing.

And the field, the Dixon field is a family area. You never come past here, but what, there’s not, and it’s free family. It’s not organized sports. It’s free family play. Most of it. Not much of it. Uh, and that brings a real addition, a real perk, to an old neighborhood. And we don’t have many perks in this old neighborhood.

But that field is a beautiful addition to our neighborhood. And so those are the two things that I would like to see kept. I’ve heard a lot of interesting ideas, and I hope that we can maintain the feeling that we’ve had here for so long, and still move forward with the things that need to be accomplished.

Michelle: Hi, my name is Michelle Wages. I live in the Franklin neighborhood. All six of my children have come to this school. Currently, child number six is here as an eighth grader. I feel kind of special that she’s gonna like, lead the last one that leaves a bit. It’s also kind of nostalgic because we’ve all been here.

Um, I’ve been told over the years as I’ve worked with the school board and, and other things, I’ve worked on multiple bonds with the district. The district in that. People won’t pay for a bond for a suit, and so no one wants to build a new building for the suits, right, but we all need a place to put the suits, and so I think it would be, it could be in our best interest to move the district offices here, so that we can draw in all of those district people who are out of these outbuildings and other places, and then allow us to keep the community resources that we have here, the English language people who are here and maybe expand some of that and, you know, pull some of the things that are outside of our purview into this, into this neighborhood, into this building.

Um, as everyone has mentioned, it’s so close to public transportation and all these other wonderful things that we love about the neighborhood. Um, I know that we need to make sure that we, that we take good care of the property that’s here. But I think that moving the district office here could be a really great Could create a really great opportunity to bring more people, especially if we have people from outside the district, business officers, other school districts who come to come and see how beautiful our city is, come and see how wonderful our school district is, and have them see what’s so great about Provo, and all the cool things that we love about Provo.

Um, I think that that could be really a benefit for the neighborhood, for the neighborhood to draw, to draw some of those things in. Thank you.

Alex: Is it okay if I don’t hold the microphone? Yes, yeah, you’re great, yeah. Okay, my name is Alex Strasburg. I live just about a block down from here. Um, I feel like we have a good amount of people that came today, but it’s not indicative of how many people are really interested in the issue. Uh, there’s been a real erosion of public trust in the past and it needs to be addressed.

I think one of the things that really needs to be done to, one of the things that could be done to this is actually putting mailers around next time. And we’re putting signs on doors or things like that to get the word out, because the only people that heard about it that came that I know of heard about it from Facebook.

So, we have a lot of people that weren’t able to come, and when I did ask a few people who, if they were interested, they were like, why, they’re gonna just vote the other way anyway. So, that’s just an issue that I think we need to keep on doing, and I think we’re doing the right steps going that direction, and I thank you for taking this time to do that.

Um, What I would love to see here is just as much as possible to keep the school structured here and the field. The field is so important to us as a community. So, that’s all I have to share. Thank you so much for your time.

Jane: I’ve only been here almost 14 years this time. So I haven’t been here as long as Bernie and some of the others. But, as we live to try and cross things. Across the street from the playing field, Miss Gloria said, It is constantly in use. It is so delightful to look out, I can look out my window and see what’s going on there all the time in the tennis courts.

They really need some repairs. But I mean, it’s part of the whole, whole system because the school has been here for a long time. But it is so pretty and we enjoy walking around this area. Don’t walk very far anymore, but when we walk around the area and it is, we’ll see various ones of you as we’re walking as they come by.

People come here to use their uh, kites, their drones, all kinds of things. They are constantly using this field. And I’d certainly hate to see it built into houses or something. It’s just, it’s the center of the neighborhood. The whole neighborhood, yes. People go to Timpanogos Elementary and have their dogs and play with us and so forth, which is great.

But this is the neighborhood park, where people just come. They have their strollers, strolling their babies around, or running their babies around. Whatever they’re doing. Little children come and play all the time. They put them in the same box, which some people say is not very good. But they use it. And they just have a good time with it.

And that, that field is so important. And love walking around and seeing the, seeing the old building. It is so pretty. Yes, additions have been put on the school years. Which are in use all the time, too, for that matter. But it’s just really important to keep a green space someplace. You talk about various cities and their developments and new developments and things.

It’s leaving open space, green space, where people can feel comfortable. And I’m so grateful for that. I really appreciate it. Appreciate being able to be around someplace like this. Even though I haven’t been here for eons. I still like it. Thank you so much. Jane, you didn’t give your name. Oh, I didn’t give my name.

Jane Saunders. Sorry about that. Thank you. Anybody else?

Superintendent Dau: I really want to thank all of you for sharing. Um, there’s just so many better ideas when we kind of come together, things that I don’t even think about, you know, um, and so it’s very helpful to have all of that feedback. I just wanted to share with you some of the ideas that we have brainstormed, so when you do fill out your feedback form, if there are things on this that you’re like, please don’t do that, I don’t want that at all, that would be important for us to hear as well.

Um, but now we take those ideas that we’ve brainstormed before and we’re gonna combine it with everything that we’ve heard and then start to really look at our needs and, and develop, um, a long term plan. So, I just wanted to share a few of those things that we’ve talked about as a Board of Education. Um, we talked at, we, and that kind of alluded to this before about really bringing a student and community center.

Where we would have programs that, um, most likely our, uh, middle school and high school students could participate in from all areas of the district. It wouldn’t just be for, um, one particular feeder system. Um, we could create a permanent location for our CAPS program. Expand those, uh, CTE stands for Career and Technical Education Pathways.

Um, I think about, we have the Provo Airport so close to us and we don’t have an aviation pathway, for example, for students, and it just, it seems like we’re missing out on some opportunities because we haven’t, um, we don’t have the space for these particular, um, ideas. And we do need a home at some point for our East Bay Post High School.

Students, there’s not a lot of them, but, um, they, uh, they definitely deserve a space to learn in. And then being able to really utilize that space at night. We’ve been talking about things like, um, the community uses it. The green space, the, do we need gathering spaces so that the community has access to that?

What would that look like? Um, and making sure that it is, um, something that really is. It’s used almost all day long, you know, maybe it could be like 7 11. It’s open 24 7. I don’t know, but um, I think, I think maximizing that space could be very helpful and really making it feel vibrant and alive. Um, and we’ve talked a lot about, um, many of these benefits already, um, so I won’t rehash that.

Concerns would be, is, is that to build something like that, um, likely would require a bond. I mean, school districts don’t have that kind of money just saved up, um, and so we would have to figure out, what does the financing look like, and how do we, and how do we plan that into our 10 year plan? So that we can get the needs that we have without creating an economic burden also for our families.

Um, and then the other piece of this is we need to prioritize our students. That’s our, that’s our job as a, as a school district. Um, and can we fit all of these programs onto this site? What does that even look like? Um, and so if not, then where, where do those programs go? Do they go to Grandview? Do they go to other locations?

And what does that look like? Um, we’ve talked about, and a couple of you mentioned this, we could put a district office campus here and also have East Bay Post High and still have community resources that are tied to it. That is definitely an option. Um, I will tell you that I hear most often, please don’t put the district office here.

Like we don’t, like Michelle said, we don’t want the students in the Dixon neighborhood. And I understand that as well. Um, options for a district office elsewhere. So we, we do have places we can do that. Um, some of the, some of the, um, benefits to that would be that we could put our employee daycare center here, have that available, it would provide a playground for the community, plus that green space.

Um, and also have that school for our students with special needs. But some of the concerns are it’s not, you know, district offices that put us wherever we need to go. It’s the kids in the community that, that need to be at the focus. Um, it also doesn’t solve our needs for space for our career and technical education programs.

Um, for our CAPS program. And, um, putting the district office there, we may not have enough space for the adult ed and community ed programs. And those need to be the priority, um, for this particular site, that’s what we’ve been looking at. So, and as I said, we have other places we can put a district office, so.

Um, we’ve also talked about just converting the space to green space. Um, there’s been some concern, like what happens to this space once the students move to Shoreline, and it takes a little while to kind of figure out what we’re going to do with this space and to get construction going. Um, people have reached out to me and said, well, I don’t want this to fall into disrepair like this is part of our neighborhood.

And so we have a stewardship as well to make sure that what we’re doing in the interim is. Um, we, we don’t want it to become, uh, something that’s run down and, and becomes a blight in the neighborhood. It needs to be a focal point in something, um, that the neighborhood can be really proud of. So, we, we could, if we’re thinking a 10 year plan and we need to put in a park and maintain it, and make it beautiful in the meantime, and we fulfill our needs in other, in other ways, and as has been suggested, you kind of hold on to the space in case you need it at a later time.

That is a legitimate option that we have. So, um, those are, those are some of the things that we just kind of talked about, um, and noting that probably no one solution is going to fix all of these needs and meet all of them, but I think we’ve come up with some good ideas that we could solve a lot of things in the meantime.

I do want to address why we haven’t talked about putting a school back at the Dixon site. Um, and, and part of this is that our elementary level, we actually have quite a few more seats available in our elementary schools than we have need for. So our, really, the only level where we’re actually having, um, population increase is actually happening at our high schools because students choice into those high schools from outside of the district, often for specific programs that are offered at Timpview and Provo. And so, what we see is a really stagnant, um, enrollment projections for the next, say, five years. Um, and if we did put an elementary school here, we would have to close an elementary school elsewhere, right? So, if you’re moving Timpanogos here, closing that one, opening this one, if you add another elementary school and keep Timpanogos , we’re going to have to close a different elementary school because um, we would, we would be over capacity.

Um, and so, that’s, that’s, that’s a reason why we haven’t thought about, um, an elementary school here. And I, um, heard of middle school being mentioned. Um, still with the building of Shoreline, we do still have more capacity at our middle schools, um, than we have, you know, uh, need for at this moment. Um, and so we get concerned about, if you put another middle school here, another concern that I have is that middle school then gets split between two different communities, so some of those students end up going to Timpview, some of those students go to Provo High, what does, what does that do to that school community?

Um, but I think there also needs to be addressed in this plan. I think what was brought out that I really appreciate is what happens if our student population does increase? Then what’s the plan, right? So that we’re not going back later and saying, Oh, well I wish we hadn’t built that because we really could have used that property for this and that would have been a better need.

Can we think more creatively in that sense? To be able to adjust spaces or do we need to hold on to something so that we know, um, how we’re going to account for that in the future as needed. Um, I think it’s very clear. I don’t think anybody here disagrees that a school brings in just a feel. It is the center of the neighborhood.

It is a very important part of the neighborhood. And so as, as much as possible, I think we’re hearing, um, that, that, that becomes very important. Not just. You know, putting in, selling it, and putting it, putting in something that might not be, um, as amenable to this particular neighborhood, but really showing our stewardship, um, to Dixon, so.

Um, so with that, I, I just want to tell you what our next steps are. I appreciated the feedback of, um, we probably do need to do a mailer, like sometimes I rely a lot on electronic communication, so thank you for that feedback. Um, I’ll work with the Board of Education if we feel like we need to get out more and do a couple more of these.

I’m happy to do as many as we feel like we need to so that people’s voices are heard. Um, I will present a summary of these meetings at a future board meeting. I will let you know what those will be and then those all will get recorded so you can watch those at a later time. And then the Board of Education will start to narrow down those choices.

And then usually what happens is they say we want to kind of see what the cost differences are going to be and start to draw up some preliminary plans and all of those things. So, um, it’s a, it’s a process and we really do have to have a long range plan. So that we don’t end up building something and then later saying, wow, that is not what we needed in the long.

So, um, here are the QR codes. You should be able to just hold up your phone, but if you want a hard copy, they’re up here as well. And I can get you. Um, I have pens in my bag, so I’m happy to provide that, but you can fill out the survey and provide feedback. That would be incredible. And then those survey results will also go in to report to the Board of Education and I’ll make sure that Shauna posts this presentation on our website so that you have access to it as well.

Thank you so much for taking the time. Thank you for caring about your community and for sharing just yourself. You’re sharing your lived experience. Um, and that’s really important to me so that I, I can understand, um, what the priorities are here and so that our board can understand the priorities and take that into account as we’re making decisions as an entire district.

So, thank you for taking the time to be here. I hope you have a wonderful evening. Um, if you want to come up and use the hard copy of the form, please do so. I’ll help you with that. So, thank you and have a good night everyone.