Teams get nowhere in Jordan talks

But the two teams have batted different proposals around throughout the past few months. Recently both sides have retained legal counsel in order to prepare for impending arbitration.

However, leaders on the Jordan-west transition team said they have yet to receive indication, aside from press reports, that an impasse has been reached.

The main issue is how to divide the district's assets, and a negotiating team made up of two members of each team drafted a proposal earlier this spring. The Jordan-west team rejected it, so the negotiating team went back to the drawing board, producing another proposal that was signed off on by Jordan-east.

But the Jordan-west team responded with a counter-proposal that led to the impasse.

East-side leaders wanted all of the district's buildings to be appraised and the monetary value of all of the buildings divided equally between both sides. That approach would likely result in the west side paying the east side money to even the score.

The west-side transition team wants to take a different approach, splitting the value of the common buildings currently used by both sides of the district and dividing the value according to the percentage of students each side has. That could be about 60/40, as the west side has more students.

Legislation that clarified the division process was passed in March, but Waddoups said the Legislature didn't anticipate the impact that the upcoming school board election or the number of east-side buildings that need renovating compared to the number of west-side buildings that need to be built would have on the division process.

The Legislature should have a chance to re-evaluate its legislation in light of the "new information" that has been created, Waddoups said, especially as the issue becomes even more divisive and politically charged.

"It's getting acrimonious and people are starting to fight," Waddoups said. "Money is being spent, and it's not on education."

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com; terickson@desnews.com