In dual immersion equal numbers of native Spanish speakers and English speakers share a classroom and learn half the day in each language.

Francien Kooymans lives on Robertson Lane, right by the soon-to-be-built Munger Mountain Elementary School. She is disappointed by the decision because her son, 9, isn’t in the dual program, and she was looking forward to him attending a school so close to home.

“I was in favor of this location because I thought it was pretty handy to have the school really close,” Kooymans said. “But if I would have known it would be a dual school I would have never wanted the school here to start with. It’s going to have a pretty big impact on this neighborhood.”

Kooymans’ 4-year-old daughter isn’t in the public school system. Kooymans said she didn’t want to enroll either of her children in the dual program for a variety of reasons but is now reconsidering that choice.

“Now I feel like I’m being forced to enter the dual program,” she said. “But the choice would just be because of the location, and that’s not good motivation to choose the dual program. I just feel like it doesn’t make sense.”

But for every person in Kooymans’ situation, there are others — like some of her neighbors who have children in the dual program — who are content with the board’s decision. The split illustrates that the board couldn’t make a location decision for the dual school that would please everyone.

Many parents who live in the Cottonwood neighborhood near Colter Elementary School wrote and addressed school board members before the decision was made, urging that Colter be kept as a neighborhood school where their children could walk and ride their bikes to class. For parents with students in traditional classrooms who live near town elementary schools, Munger Mountain is the ideal location for a dual school and is in line with their request to trustees.

Will those who aren’t happy about the logistics pull their children from the dual program?

Parent Bob Hammond said it’s something he and his ex-wife will have to consider. He lives in Melody Ranch and works south of town, but she “recently purchased a home in Cottonwood so the kids could walk to Colter and the middle school and all of that.

“And now that plan is shot,” he said. “No matter how you slice it there is no way for the school board to make the decision and please everyone.”

Trustee Keith Gingery said that while costs were considered — along with capacity, logistics and the best way to keep the program going — the numbers never really provided a clear picture to guide the decision.

“I think pretty much what we discovered is that for every number I show you that could save money, there was another number that would cost us something,” he said. “I think it’s going to cost us pretty much the same as it would at another elementary school. At Munger there are going to be some cost savings potentially, but a lot of those cost savings are offset by other costs, like transportation.”

District officials say the eventual transportation costs of locating the dual school at Munger Mountain are unknown. Some busing costs might be offset by changing the walk zone radius around town elementary schools.

Hammond said he and others are concerned with the transportation piece of the puzzle. A little less than a third of the students in the dual program live south of High School Road.

“Now it seems like you have a school that is in a difficult location and you’re having to bus kids all the way from East Jackson and all over town down there,” Hammond said. “Some say Munger isn’t the right location for a school, period.”

Trustees say they will work to make transportation for all families as smooth as possible. There are no public transportation options at this time, but Gingery cautioned against assuming families in the dual program don’t have cars or a way to get around.

“Let’s see how many people really can’t get down to see their kids,” Gingery said. “If it’s a huge problem then we start finding some solutions. I think there are some things to sort out, but I don’t think they are insurmountable.”

Because Munger Mountain Elementary isn’t scheduled to open until the 2018 school year, Hammond and other families like his have time to consider what’s best for their kids.

“It’s nothing against the dual program,” he said. “We both believe it’s a great program. But it just comes down to logistics. We’re not in a hurry to make up our minds.”