Granite seeks fact about study on splitting the district

Granite School District bosses have filed an open records request to see what went into the study that said it's feasible to split up the district, but they say the cities of Holladay and South Salt Lake have yet to respond.

District Superintendent Steve Ronnenkamp said he filed a formal request for the data under the Government Records Access and Management Act, Utah's open public records law. The district wants to know how data, which came from Granite District, was used and what data was included in the feasibility study.

Neither Holladay nor South Salt Lake officials have responded to the request, sent via certified mail 2 1/2 weeks ago, Ronnenkamp said.

"We're hoping maybe it's just been an oversight," he said.

The district now is sending an appeal to those cities' mayors.

Holladay officials do not know how to answer the request, which City Attorney Craig Hall said is too broad.

"What they've asked for may not exist," he said.

The GRAMA request calls for "any and all" correspondence between the city, Salt Lake County and Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants concerning both the preliminary and final feasibility studies conducted by Wikstrom, Hall said. Granite also wants the scope and direction of the study.

Hall said only one City Council member uses city e-mail; the others, and the mayor, use their work e-mail addresses, which the city legally cannot access.

"Frankly, we don't have the time or the expertise to retrieve all this stuff if it existed," Hall added.

Hall said the city did not give Wikstrom direction on how to conduct the study.

South Salt Lake officials did not return calls before press time.

The district has questioned the feasibility study in recent weeks, pointing out what it believes to be inconsistencies.

Also Tuesday:

• The Granite Board of Education voted 6-1 (east-side representative Carole Cannon dissented) to oppose split efforts, spokesman Randy Ripplinger reported. Its resolution supporting an undivided district says the size of the district, with some 68,000 students, gives kids more educational opportunities, provides more support for teachers and maintains valuable diversity.