Sandy may put off vote on 3-city school district

SANDY — Glowing predictions for creating a new school district involving Sandy, Draper and Cottonwood Heights could lead the three cities to put the issue on a November ballot.

But whether Sandy agrees to do it this November or next is still up in the air.

"We could reduce class sizes, increase teacher pay and have the funds necessary to build more schools. It's pretty hard to argue against this," Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan said.

However, city officials may need a year to study the issue, he said. "I'm still waiting for the citizens of Sandy to tell us this is a direction they want us to move."

New legislation that allows for such a split to take place requires ballot language to be submitted to Salt Lake County by Aug. 31. And a looming $211 million bond by Jordan is pressuring the cities to act before they owe money.

Tuesday, Sandy was the third east-side city in the past three weeks to hear a presentation from educational consultant Mike Bennett on the feasibility of breaking off into smaller school districts.

If formed, the three-city district would have roughly 27,000 students and an estimated funding projection of nearly $203 million. In addition, the district would be the sixth largest in the state, bring in $64 more per student and generate $28 million annually for capital projects.

The rosy predictions have received positive response from the three cities, which combined have 34.3 percent of the students in Jordan School District, but account for 49.3 percent percent of that district's local funding. The additional money could allow for smaller class sizes and bring the total capital remodeling needs in Sandy ($118 million) up to par.

But the councilmen in attendance were split 2-2 on whether or not Sandy should push ahead with a ballot item.

"I think less than 30 days to get language by the end of August is too much to ask for, especially since the discussion has been cast as sort of an economic decision," councilman Stephen Smith said. Councilman Chris McCandless agreed.

On the other hand, councilmen Bryant Anderson and Dennis Tenney said the three cities should begin educating residents immediately and still push for the issue to be on the November ballot.

"I feel like our area is being swallowed up by a huge school district whose future has continued to mushroom, grow and expand," Anderson said. "I think both districts would be better off in the split."