Splitting school districts on agenda

Utah's large school districts could be pared down after a vote Tuesday by the Salt Lake County Council.

The council cleared the way for a feasibility study for a new district in Holladay, South Salt Lake and some unincorporated areas of the county.

"On a demographic basis, our schools are not keeping up," Councilman Mark Crockett said. "We need to do something different than what we've been doing to date. If you can empower parents to work together with teachers on a local basis, maybe we can get further.

The study will examine the issues and not be a rubber stamp of approval for the creation of small school districts, Councilman Jim Bradley said.

The idea of smaller districts has picked up steam since several east-side schools were closed in the past year. Holladay, South Salt Lake and Cottonwood Heights all had at least one of their schools closed by Granite or Jordan school districts because of declining school-age populations.

A measure approved in the past legislative session allows cities with populations of at least 65,000 to form their own school districts. Smaller cities that border one another can band together to meet the law's population requirement.

However, any new district cannot landlock or create islands out of existing districts. The law also says the district borders must coincide with the borders of the city, said Gavin Anderson, deputy district attorney. The only way to get around that boundary is to do an inter-local agreement.

West Valley City is pondering starting a school district of its own, said Mayor Dennis Nordfelt. Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch said if that happens, the county should be involved so unincorporated areas like Kearns and Magna could possibly join that district.

Cottonwood Heights leaders are "investigating" their options on possibly starting a new district, said Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore Jr. Cottonwood Heights is not large enough to meet legislative qualifications but would have to merge with some unincorporated parts of Salt Lake County to start a district.

The Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday urged Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon to speak with other cities interested in creating small school districts and investigate the issue on a countywide basis.

"I can tell you in working with our city mayors that there isn't a city that wants to run at this blindly and fast, for spite or any other reason," said Laura Pinnock of the Small School District Coalition. "I believe we need to trust cities and the citizens in those cities to know that they are going to do what's best for children."

In other action, the council gave preliminary approval to placing a $48 million bond on the November ballot to pay for open space and parks.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com