Splitting a school district is complex

A new east-side district would have to raise taxes to run schools, a final study on the proposal to split Granite School District states. But, district officials pointed out Tuesday, there's no legal room to do that.

So just how financially feasible is splitting Utah's second-largest school district?

A Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants final report and Granite District differ, and the latter says the public needs to ask more questions on money needed to keep a new and remaining district afloat and how student programs will be affected.

Meanwhile, caught in the fray is Murray School District, which would inherit some $94 million in land and buildings by not participating in a Granite District split.

The matter is complex.

Salt Lake County, Holladay and South Salt Lake are considering breaking off from Granite and forming their own district. They commissioned Wikstrom to conduct a feasibility study on the matter.

A movement to split the Jordan School District also is under way.

Last spring, Wikstrom released a preliminary study; the final version is dated June 25 but has not yet been publicly discussed by the county and two cities.

The east side has 22 percent to 24 percent of the students but 42 percent of the district's tax base. A new east district would have $3,110 per student from local property taxes alone (not including hefty state funds); the remaining district, $1,150 per student. But the district says much of the money is the wrong brand: Capital instead of operations cash.

The final report acknowledges the new district is financially feasible, though "operations are projected to require more than the statutorily allowed property tax," the district points out. The report says the same thing about the remaining west-side district.

But then the study concludes the new district's operations and building needs can be funded without a property tax and property owners may realize a tax cut.

So, the district says, which is it?

"To us, it doesn't make sense at all to say it's financially feasible," Granite Superintendent Steve Ronnenkamp said. "Someone's going to have to make some tough decisions on what they're going to cut."

The district has other concerns. The west side would need more money to accommodate growth, but a bill proposal aimed at helping out wouldn't give much aid. The study does not address impacts on programs for students. Enrollment would drop at east-side schools because a chunk of the 1,300 plus west-siders attending them, many of them because of boundaries or cross-district busing, probably won't be there anymore. Meanwhile west-side schools will need at least 23 portable classrooms to house those students.

The Granite Board of Education remains officially neutral on the issue.