Cottonwood Heights and Holladay families in the Canyons School District now face a firm enrollment deadline after the Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday, Sept. 15, to approve new thresholds for dual-language immersion (DLI) programs starting in the 2027-2028 school year, according to the board meeting summary.

Each school must have at least 50 students committed to its DLI program by Jan. 15, 2027, to keep two first-grade immersion classes. The neighborhood general-education classroom, which the district is legally required to offer, must also enroll at least 19 students. Schools that fall short of 50 DLI commitments by that date will drop to a single class of 30.

Board member Katie Dahle made the motion. Board member Jackson Lewis seconded it.

The vote was unanimous.

The approval caps a months-long review. The board first heard the proposal at its Aug. 18 meeting, delayed action on Sept. 1 to wait for survey results, then passed the final version on its third reading.

A district news release in August laid out the rationale: declining birth rates and rising living costs across Salt Lake County are shrinking the school-age population, squeezing programs that need enough students for both immersion and non-immersion classrooms. In 2025-2026, the district spent $1.43 million to supplement 13 full-time-equivalent teaching positions for DLI, according to Sept. 1 board minutes. That cost could climb as enrollment keeps falling.

Superintendent McKay Robinson told the board the guidelines would bring transparency to DLI decisions. He also urged members to consider long-term fixes, including magnet schools dedicated to immersion, boundary adjustments and program consolidation.

A survey of 861 parents and 329 employees, open Aug. 21 through Sept. 4, showed general support for boundary changes or consolidation. Employees leaned toward magnet DLI schools.

Instructional Support Department specialist Lora Tuesday-Heathfield presented the results at the Sept. 15 meeting.

The board also set a second safety valve. If a school's DLI enrollment recovers after the January cutoff, it can return to two classes by March 15, 2027, as students move into second grade. Any two-class cohort that drops to 30 or fewer students through attrition, at any grade level, will shift to one class the following year.

When the proposal was still in draft, Robinson said in the August news release: "As a District, we are absolutely committed to preserving this program. These enrollment targets are a first step."

The DLI application window opens Sept. 30 and closes Dec. 15. Parents will be able to track enrollment numbers on the Canyons School District website throughout the application window, according to the board meeting summary.