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Show Summsrhays may b3 feeing greai cSiallanga as presictent r w ' (-1 His association with the schools stems from a decision he made 12 . years ago. "I decided then to consistently devote a portion of my time and my' life to community' service. At that point, it was merely , a matter of selecting from the menu. There's many avenues of worthy service." With the support of his wife, his children and present and former " school board members, Sum-merhays-reluctantly at first- agreed to seek the board of edu-, cation seat vacated last fall by at- i torney Henry Heath. It's a decision he doesn't regret. "The rewards are extremely meaningful, even though it does make you more susceptible to public pub-lic criticism. So far, however, there have been no personal attacks and I honestly feel a groundswell of support sup-port for the difficult decisions we're making. I would hope the possibility possi-bility of public criticism will not deter de-ter the recruitment of talented, competent people to public service. Special to the Clipper At age 40, Lynn Summerhays is comfortable with a challenge. . ? He's captained the University of Utah golf squad and played on high school state champion basketball and golf teams..erved on the LDS Church Missionary Preparation Committee and the Young Men General Board...earned a master's degree from prestigious George Washington University while serving serv-ing as a U.S. Army officerJVnd is currently a partner in a multi-state real estate development corporation and serves as chairman of the board of the Utah Division of the American Cancer Society. : In Davis County, however, he may face his greatest challenge. As president of the ,' Davis County Board of Education, he and his colleagues col-leagues oversee a sprawling school district already beset by growth problems and expecting 60 percent more students within the next 10 years. -vv: The swelling student enrollments combined with the cry for tax reduction place school boards in the eye of the storm-but Summerhays is convinced the board can weather itout ...:., ,;,. ,. " "When you're faced with these problems, you're forced to make ' some hard decisions," he says,' "and any decision is going to be unpopular among some of the patrons. Our task is to make deci-sioris deci-sioris which are educationally sound and whfch, at the same time, , minimized the potential of any negative impact on families and communities. We can't afford to ride the fence on important issues " V There's been little fence-riding in his first four months. " , ' This year the Davis Board has already approved boundary changes affecting 15 elementary schools, established es-tablished four year-round programs, effectively added an elementary school through the remodeling .of the Monte Vista Center, created studies testing the t viability of magnet schools , and open high school enrollment, approved a far-reaching far-reaching ''whole language" reading program" for children in kindergarten . through sixth grade and set in motion building additions at several junior high schools. Even if the board had unlimited money, it would still be impossible to keep up, says a district official With limited dollars, the responsibility respon-sibility is even more rigorous. ' , " ' , ."Dealing with growth is at times ' an, all-consuming pursuit," smiles Summerhays. "If I have a disappointment disap-pointment so far it's the lack of time tojfpcus on the many good things " happening in our schools, especially the strong leadership in curriculum "In Davis County, our administrator ad-ministrator per student ratio is one of the lowest in the state and nation, ; and yet we have widely-respected professionals whose programs are ., being implemented throughout the United States. Honestly, I would rate our superintendent, the administrative ad-ministrative staff and the teachers and classified employees as die finest in Utah. We should applaud their talent, capability and commit-, commit-, ment. Considering our financial e resources, Davis County's schools are doing an excellent job." It's a pursuit of excellence-and it's also a pursuit of finding space. LYNN SUMMERHAYS I'm not a Pollyanna, "but I sincerely believe that community service can reward you as much as it does the people around you. It's a way of positively' impacting the lives of everyone in a community." In the northern section of Davis County, it's not uncommon for schools designed for 800 students to be housing 1,200. One solution, creating pockets of controversy, ' was to approve year-round schools. "We're not afraid to make these tough decisions," says Summerhays, Sum-merhays, "but the year-round solution solu-tion is an extension of our philosophy to gain, the support of parents and teachers. In the four schools implementing year-round schedules, we had sizeable majority approval in public votes. Some 85 percent of our teachers and more than 60 percent of the parents voted for year-round. . ; 7- 3 , . ' 'In this area, year-round is a new concept and will take' some getting used to. But even the detractors of ' year-round are admitting that we're on the right track. Frankly, we had to do something-and we didn't have the money to continue the construction of expensive school facilities." . , - Boundary changes are similarly : controversial, but - Summerhays points out that public approval has at times been over 90 percent y "When you consider boundary changes, you always face the problem prob-lem of the traditional bonding to a specific school," j he explains. "Even more important, however, is the educational opportunity afforded afford-ed to each student Enrollments have to be more equitably balanced to prevent educational disadvantages disadvan-tages at the overcrowded schools. Currently, Layton High and Clearfield Clear-field High ; enrollments are at capacity while Bountiful High and Woods Cross High are underutilized. under-utilized. As a school board and administration ad-ministration we are following a careful, prudent, but aggressive course to solve the inequities caused caus-ed by overcrowding." |
