Davis School District

Davis School District is a school district serving Davis County, Utah, United States. Headquartered in the county seat of Farmington, it is the 61st largest school district in the United States and the 2nd largest school district in Utah with 72,987 students attending Davis schools as of 2019.[1]: 72  It is located almost entirely within Davis County. Students attend elementary school from kindergarten to 6th grade, junior high from 7th grade-9th grade, and high school from 10th grade-12th grade.[2]

Davis School District
Address
45 East State Street
PO Box 588[1]: 72 [2]
Farmington
, Utah, 84025
United States
District information
TypePublic
MottoLearning First!
GradesPK - 12
Established1911
SuperintendentReid Newey
Governing agencyUtah Department of Education
Schools
  • 59 elementary schools
  • 17 junior high schools
  • 8 high schools
  • 4 special schools[1]: 72–79 
NCES District ID4900210[3]
Students and staff
Students72,987[1]: 72 
Teachers2,769[1]: 72 
Other information
Websitewww.davis.k12.ut.us

History

In 2006, the Davis School District received recognition for having the nation's top graduation rate among the 100 largest school districts in the United States, according to a survey by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Also in 2006, the superintendent, Dr. W. Bryan Bowles was awarded superintendent of the year in Utah.[Note 1] For the 2016-17 school year, Reid Newey moved from the Weber School District to become the superintendent of DSD.

In 2019 a Davis school bus driver closed the bus doors on the backpack of a boy, pinning him outside the bus and dragging him forward a couple hundred feet. His family sued the driver, alleging this was done intentionally to racially harass the boy, who was biracial. They pointed to previous instances of racial harassment by the driver and attempts at retaliation for reporting him.[5][6] The district settled the suit for $62,500 and acknowledged the "racial assault".[7] A three year investigation by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) followed. That investigation found that racial harassment was widespread in the school district and hundreds of complaints were intentionally unaddressed.[8] Black and Asian students in the district faced a hostile environment where they were subjected to racial slurs, and Davis School District employees responded to complaints by telling them "not to be so sensitive or made excuses for harassing students by explaining that they were 'not trying to be racist'".[9] The DOJ required the District to create an plan to address the systemic problems moving forward which included changing its policies, offering more training, and creating an equity department for racial discrimination complaints with a director that is approved by the federal government.[8][10]

In 2021, a ten-year-old black girl who attended the District's Foxboro Elementary School committed suicide due to racist bullying, sparking national outcry.[10] An independent investigation that was commissioned by the District found that staff had joined in on the mistreatment of the girl. In 2023, her family was awarded $2 million in a civil rights settlement, to be paid by Davis School District.[11]

In 2023, the district removed the Bible from its elementary and middle schools while keeping it in high schools after a committee reviewed the scripture in response to a parental complaint. The district has removed other titles, including Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” following a 2022 state law requiring districts to include parents in decisions over what constitutes “sensitive material.”[12][13][14][15][16]

Communities

Davis School District, which has the same boundaries as that of Davis County, serves the following communities:[17]

Schools

The following schools are part of Davis School District:[1]: 72–79 

Elementary schools[Note 2]

Junior high schools

High schools

Special schools
  • Family Enrichment Center - Kaysville
  • Mountain High School - Kaysville
  • Pioneer Adult Rehabilitation Center - Clearfield
  • Renaissance Academy - Kaysville
  • Vista education campus - Farmington

See also

Notes
  1. Until 2016, Dr. W. Bryan Bowles was the superintendent of Davis School District.[1]: 72  However, effective 31 August, he retired and a replacement had yet to be named.[4]
  2. As of 2016, Fruit Heights was the only city within Davis County which does not have an elementary school located within the city. (All the communities within Davis County, except Hill Air Force Base are classified as cities.)

References
  1. "Utah's 2015-16 Educational Directory". schools.utah.gov. Utah State Office of Education. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 18, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  2. "About Davis School District". davis.k12.ut.us. Davis School District. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  3. "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Davis District". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  4. Jacobsen, Morgan (July 13, 2016). "Davis School District superintendent announces retirement". Deseret News. Salt Lake City: Deseret Digital Media. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  5. Courtney Tanner (May 7, 2019). "A biracial Utah boy was shut in the doors of a school bus and left dangling outside as it drove forward. Now his family is suing". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  6. Dakin Andone; Chris Boyette (May 10, 2019). "School bus driver dragged biracial student because of his 'racial animus,' lawsuit says". CNN. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  7. Courtney Tanner (July 17, 2019). "A Utah school district agrees to pay $62,500 after a biracial boy was dragged by a bus". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  8. Courtney Tanner (October 21, 2021). "Justice department chastises Utah school district for ignoring racial harassment of Black and Asian students". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  9. Nicole Chavez (October 22, 2021). "A Utah school district ignored hundreds of racial harassment complaints against Black and Asian American students, DOJ says". CNN. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  10. Metz, Sam (November 3, 2022). "Family of a Black Utah fifth grader who died by suicide to sue for school's response to bullying". USA TODAY. Associated Press. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  11. Tanner, Courtney (August 8, 2023). "A 10-year-old Black girl died by suicide after being bullied. Her Utah school district will now pay the family $2 million". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  12. Sam Metz (June 1, 2023). "Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools 'due to vulgarity or violence'". www.apnews.com. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  13. Courtney Tanner (June 1, 2023). "The Bible is banned in these Utah elementary and middle schools now for 'vulgarity or violence'". www.sltrib.com. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  14. Max Matza (June 2, 2023). "Utah primary schools ban Bible for 'vulgarity and violence'". www.bbc.com. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  15. Tilda Wilson (June 2, 2023). "A Utah school district has removed the Bible from some schools' shelves". www.npr.org. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  16. David K. Li (June 2, 2023). "Utah parent upset by book bans gets Bible pulled from school shelves to expose 'bad faith process'". www.nbcnews.com. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  17. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Davis County, UT" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 3, 2023. - Text list
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