Draper families considering dual-language immersion will face a new enrollment test starting with the 2027-28 school year.

The Canyons School District Board of Education voted on Tuesday, Sept. 15, to adopt an enrollment-based rubric for its dual-language immersion (DLI) programs. The vote was unanimous. Under the new policy, at least 50 students must commit to DLI enrollment by Jan. 15, 2027, for a school to keep two first-grade immersion classes. Schools that fall short will drop to a single cohort of 30 students.

The neighborhood general-education classroom, which the district is required by law to offer alongside DLI, must also have at least 19 students enrolled.

Superintendent McKay Robinson said the rubric was created to bring transparency to how the district decides each school's DLI class size. When the thresholds were first proposed at the Aug. 18 board meeting, Robinson said "the true aim of the proposal is to preserve DLI programs across CSD, even in an era of declining enrollment."

A traditional two-class DLI cohort begins with about 56 immersion students, 28 per class, plus enough neighborhood-track students to fill the required general classroom. The 50-student commitment threshold means schools need nearly all of those families on board by mid-January.

The policy also sets a March 15, 2027, deadline for schools to restore a two-class cohort as students enter second grade. Any elementary two-class cohort that shrinks to 30 students or fewer through attrition, regardless of grade level, will move to a single cohort the following year.

Some Canyons schools already dropped to single cohorts during the 2025-26 school year after falling short of the 50-student mark, the Cottonwood Heights-Holladay Times reported. District enrollment stood at 31,506 during the 2025-26 school year and is projected to keep falling.

The DLI enrollment application window opens Sept. 30 and closes Dec. 15. Parents will be able to track real-time enrollment numbers on the Canyons District website throughout that period, according to the district's board meeting summary.

Robinson urged the board to consider longer-term solutions, including magnet schools dedicated to DLI, boundary adjustments and program consolidations. A district survey open Aug. 21 through Sept. 4 drew responses from 861 parents and 329 employees. Lora Tuesday-Heathfield, a Canyons Instructional Support Department specialist, told the board that respondents generally supported boundary changes or consolidation, while employees favored a magnet-school model.

Board member Holly Neibaur thanked Robinson and Business Administrator Leon Wilcox for the plan and asked the administration to keep the board updated on staffing decisions tied to DLI.

Also at the Sept. 15 meeting, the board recognized five students who earned a perfect 36 composite score on the ACT: Sydney Hanks from Corner Canyon High School, Gabriel Carlton and Oliver Collings from Alta High, Miles Higginson from Brighton High, and Zhuocheng Wang from Hillcrest High.

The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with Alpine School District for Suncrest busing. The DLI application window opens Sept. 30 on the Canyons District website.