Special session on splits?

The governor should call a special legislative session to clear up building and boundary issues related to splitting the Granite and Jordan school districts, the Education Interim Committee says.

The committee voted Wednesday to ask Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to call the Legislature into session either this summer or fall so that, should the school-district splits go before voters, the issue will be clear.

"People should know what they're voting on by knowing whether there's a solution to the school building equalization issue ... and whether there's a solution to this boundary issue," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper.

Huntsman will look into the request and whether issues can be resolved short of a special session, spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley said.

But there's a bigger issue at hand.

"We would need for there to be consensus on an issue like this if we were going to indeed call a special session," Roskelley said.

While the Draper boundary issue likely is not controversial, there are competing proposals on how to make sure the left-over school districts aren't too poor to afford buildings to accommodate growth.

There are two movements afoot to split school districts. In Jordan District, Sandy, Cottonwood Heights, Alta, Midvale and Draper have agreed to ask voters whether they want to create their own east-side school district, but the county still needs to vote. In Granite, Holladay, South Salt Lake and East Millcreek Township are examining the possibility; those cities and the county are expected to vote whether or not to put it on the ballot in the coming weeks.

State law sets up a process to form new school districts, but it needs some ironing. Task forces have taken issues as they've cropped up, and bills are being proposed now to take care of them. Problem is, the legislative session isn't until January, too late to act before voters potentially go to the polls in November.

One issue is building money. East-side cities, which aren't growing, have fewer students than the west but a big chunk of the tax revenues in both districts. The west sides are growing and will need more schools. Split supporters don't want to leave the west side high and dry.

East-side leaders are hoping that equalization bill will show the county they are actively trying to work through the split problems and keep it fair for the west side.

"If we can get the legislation done ahead of time, maybe that's all the County Council would need to say the tax is equitable, let's move forward," said Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore Jr.