Sandy Council votes to seek split from Jordan District

SANDY — The biggest city in the Jordan School District voted Tuesday night to seek a split from the massive district and form its own, along with four other south east-side cities.

Now whether or not residents will vote on the new district in November awaits on approval from Salt Lake County. County Mayor Peter Corroon has said he may veto the Granite or Jordan school district splits until a number of questions are answered.

A group of west-side cities also is talking of a challenge to the constitutionality of the law that allowed for such splits, based on the assumption that every municipality that would be affected by a split should be allowed to vote on the issue.

Alta, Cottonwood Heights, Draper and Midvale all gave the thumbs-up last week to the November vote. However, the county council that represents both the east and west sides of the county has varying opinions on the split. They are set to vote July 31 on whether or not they will opt in to the split. A "no" vote from the county, however, would kill any new district.

But Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan said that even if the county shoots down the split, there is always the Legislature to turn to.

Currently, various ideas for new bills are being discussed in a legislative Local Issues Task Force, headed by Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights. One that has gained momentum is being backed by Rep. Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, and Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper. It aims to equalize school construction funds on a countywide level, which would solve one of the monetary questions that has arisen.

Sandy council Tuesday voted 6-0 to join an interlocal agreement with the other southeast-side cities and the county to put the district split on the November ballot. Corroon and the city mayors would be approving that ballot language.

Sandy councilman Scott Cowdel abstained from voting, however, because he works for Jordan School District and his son serves on the Jordan Board of Education.

The council noted it has been a tough decision for them to make, especially since many have had children who have gone to Jordan schools and others have friends who work in the district.

"One of my concerns is personally, as the district grows and becomes larger and larger, I can see it down the road becoming one of the largest districts in the United States," said council chairman Bryant Anderson. "At this point in time, it is becoming so large that we're not able to have the community involved in the school district as we have in the past."

Councilman Dennis Tenney described it as an "amicable divorce."

"I will certainly support empowering our citizens and providing them with as much quality information as possible," he said in reference to Sandy's role to educate citizens on the split before election time.

The northern half of the county's east side, including Holladay, South Salt Lake and Millcreek Township, are studying splitting from Granite School District.

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