Granite Elementary in Sandy enrolled just 238 students for the 2026-27 school year, less than half the size of Sunrise Elementary's 619, according to new school-level data from the Utah State Board of Education (USBE).
The figures, released Nov. 1, give Sandy families their first detailed look at how individual Canyons School District elementary schools are faring as Utah posts its steepest enrollment decline in more than a decade.
Statewide, public K-12 enrollment fell by 15,840 students, or 2.4%, to 640,471 for 2026-27. USBE called it the largest single-year percentage drop since at least 2014. Traditional district schools bore the brunt, losing 17,796 students, a 3.1% decline. Charter schools, meanwhile, grew by 1,957 students and now enroll 13.6% of Utah's public school population.
That split matters in Sandy.
Among the district's Sandy-area elementaries, enrollment varies widely. Sunrise Elementary leads with 619 students. Peruvian Park has 561, Altara has 535, Alta View has 517 and Glacier Hills has 514. On the smaller end, Sprucewood has 297, Park Lane has 300, Brookwood has 302 and Quail Hollow has 323, according to USBE's data gateway.
Granite's 238 students make it the smallest operating Sandy elementary in the dataset. Its kindergarten class has just 22 children.
The numbers land in the middle of an active consolidation discussion. In February, the Draper Journal reported that the Canyons Board of Education was weighing two proposals for Sandy schools. Proposal A would have merged Granite and Quail Hollow at the Quail Hollow building, creating a school of about 555 students. Proposal B would have combined Park Lane and Willow Canyon at the Willow Canyon campus for an estimated 580 students.
Karen Pedersen, a Canyons board member and Long-Range Planning Committee member, told the Draper Journal in coverage published in February that the math is straightforward. "Take the kindergarten class going in and subtract it from the class graduating, and you can see where the problem is," she said.
The board tabled both proposals at its May 5 meeting, according to a Canyons District board summary. Granite, Quail Hollow, Park Lane and Willow Canyon will keep their existing boundaries while the district conducts a broader study of boundaries across all grade levels.
Two Sandy schools, Willow Canyon and Oakdale, show zero enrolled students in the USBE data. Both still list principals, counselors and teachers on file. The reason for the zero figures is not explained in the state data.
The enrollment pressure has already reshaped one part of the district. The board approved a merger of Bella Vista Elementary and Ridgecrest Elementary in Cottonwood Heights in December 2025. Ridgecrest now enrolls 548 students for 2026-27, according to USBE records.
Funding follows headcounts in Utah. As the Deseret News reported Oct. 24, state funding, local tax decisions and federal grants such as Title I are all tied to pupil numbers. The Canyons board voted 7-0 on Aug. 4 to raise the certified tax rate for the first time in years, generating about $6.9 million in new revenue, according to the district's Truth-in-Taxation hearing summary.
Aaron Brough, USBE's director of data and statistics, said in the state's news release that the enrollment data help the board and legislators make informed funding decisions.
The district's planning committee is now developing a process to study boundaries districtwide. No timeline for new consolidation proposals has been announced.
