10-year-old Springville girl starts petition to save her elementary school

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A 10-year-old Springville girl started a petition to save Cherry Creek Elementary.
• The school faces closure due to declining enrollment and resource optimization efforts from the school district.
• A petition signing event will be held Saturday in Springville to spread awareness.

SPRINGVILLE — After Nebo School District announced last month that it was looking into shutting down a Springville elementary school, one young girl decided she couldn't let that happen without a fight.

"The kids at my school are going to get lost with these changes. I can't let that happen," said Willow Copeland. The fourth-grader at Cherry Creek Elementary took matters into her own hands and started a petition to save her school.

Willow explained that shutting down her school would be a great loss to the community as it's one of the only "Leader In Me" schools in the area, which means the school uses a comprehensive framework to nurture student leadership, foster a culture of trust and improve academic success.

"That program is amazing; you can't let it go. I would be sad if my little brother couldn't experience the fun and education Cherry Creek has to offer," Willow said.

The young student is now using the leadership skills she learned from her school to lead the charge in saving it.

"I am able to do this because of Cherry Creek; it has taught me to achieve my goals," she said.

Nebo School District says the decision to consider closing Cherry Creek was "driven by long-term declining enrollment patterns and a strategic effort to better utilize district resources and facilities."

The petition argues against shutting down Cherry Creek as it is a leader in student growth and teacher stability. The school has the highest concentration of teachers staying for seven or more years, and its proficiency scores in math and English are an average of 12% higher than the other two schools that were considered for closure.

As a Title I school, Cherry Creek receives federal funds for student programs, something the petition says contributes to the academic success.

"Students at Cherry Creek feel loved, that they belong and are welcomed. Something very special is happening at our school that would be lost if our vulnerable population is shuffled around. Closing Cherry Creek would disrupt the stability and the specific Title I support — including our free preschool — that our community relies on to thrive," the petition states.

The petition outlines four community demands of the school board: to conduct a third-party study on how moving the vulnerable population of students would impact mental health and academic success; provide public analyses of the impact of closing the other schools so fair comparisons can be made; guarantee the school's specialized funding and free preschool will be protected and not lost to the city; and have the board members walk the school boundaries so they can see how losing Cherry Creek would impact the safety of students who walk to school.

On Saturday, Willow and her friends are hosting a petition signing event to spread awareness and gather more signatures. They will be at the corner of 400 South and 200 East from noon to 2 p.m.

Willow's father, Jim Copeland, thinks it's unfair to the students, school staff and community to shut down a "top-performing school" and to "displace a vulnerable Title I population." He said the Nebo School District has given "no legitimate answer" for why it's closing the school, and the few answers provided on the district's website are "misleading or ambiguous."

"We demand clear and transparent answers — answers we haven't received," Copeland said. He started a Facebook group called "Save Cherry Creek Elementary" to spread word to the community.

District responds

After "years of significant enrollment shifts," a closure is necessary to improve building utilization by consolidating the student population into neighboring schools, the school district contends. But officials say the district is committed to a "transparent process" that includes feedback from the community.

Cheery Creek is at 54% capacity, and nearby schools — Brookside, Art City and Sage Creek — range from 50% to 58%, according to the school district. A boundary realignment study will be conducted later this year to determine how to better utilize the capacity of the schools.

"The goal is to move students to neighboring schools that have the space and resources to welcome them," the school district said. All Cherry Creek teachers and staff would continue to be employed by Nebo School District and be transferred to other schools as well.

As for the Title I concerns, the school district said nothing is guaranteed until new school boundaries are finalized, but "it is anticipated" a preschool would be offered at another school, and the Title I funds will be allocated to another area school.

Parents have also voiced concerns about closing schools when Springville is still actively growing and full of development. But the school district says the remaining elementary schools should have enough capacity for additional students coming from any planned or in-progress housing developments. If a new school is needed in Springville, it is likely it would be built in the western part of the city, the district added.

Nebo School District is working with municipal leaders to explore options that would ensure the facility "remains a vital part of their neighborhood." The city has expressed interest in purchasing the Cherry Creek property if the school closes to preserve the historic gymnasium, support the Springville Museum of Art and create a "community hub" for art, education and recreation.

Willow hopes the community will come together to fight back against the potential closure. She encouraged people to wear red and white to the next school board meeting on April 15 to show solidarity with the students.

A formal public hearing for the closure is scheduled in October at Cherry Creek Elementary. The Board of Education will make a final decision in December. If approved, the school will close in May 2027, and new school boundaries would begin August 2027.

Photos

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Related topics

Utah K-12 educationUtahEducationUtah County

Cassidy Wixom

• 

Cassidy Wixom is an award-winning reporter for KSL. She covers Utah County communities, arts and entertainment, and breaking news. Cassidy graduated from BYU before joining KSL in 2022.