Two of the worst-performing public schools in the state will have another two years to try to improve their students’ test scores — before they could be forced to close — under reprieves granted by the Utah Board of Education on Friday.
The extensions came after more than three hours of tense debate where members questioned whether to keep the schools open, whether the administrators could prove they were making changes for the better and whether the kids enrolled there were being hurt by staying in the failing classrooms. Ultimately more lenient than expected, it was the first board action to determine the fate of a campus since Utah’s school-turnaround program started three years ago.