From Deseret News archives:
Should Taylorsville join split?
The steering committee comprised of representatives of Holladay, South Salt Lake and Salt Lake County is considering seeking an addendum to the district split feasibility study to see how the money would shake out if west-side Taylorsville joined its group, South Salt Lake Mayor Robert Gray said Friday.
The group mainly wants to see if the new grouping would be fair and equitable for all, "so it's not the east side versus the west side," Gray said.
"There were some questions how we could make that work without creating more problems," Gray said. "If we can work toward (a goal) so everyone comes out a winner ... that's what we want."
The Taylorsville City Council earlier this week authorized the mayor to join in the east-side interlocal agreement that's seeking to break away from Granite District, and to pay for a feasibility study to that effect, Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall said.
The city isn't necessarily gung-ho about seceding from Granite, Wall said. Nor is it ready to seek to form its own city-wide school district, though a bill passed in a special legislative session this week would allow that.
"What I would like to see happen now is for all parties ... to get together, get to the bottom of what really are the issues with Granite School District, and decide once and for all if the issues can be fixed without splitting the district," Wall said. "That is still our intention."
But the city also is exploring options as they arise, he said.
"If the school district is going to split, if it's inevitable ... we think that the best scenario is to keep the Cottonwood High School feeder system intact."
Some 650 kids living in Taylorsville attend Cottonwood High, Wall said. Drawing the city into an east-side district could preserve that school. The school has appeared destined to shut down — albeit by unintended consequence — in the district split movement.
The initial feasibility study, conducted by Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants Inc., cost the three agencies about $65,000 combined, the county reports. Another study regarding governance options in a new school district, conducted by the University of Utah's Utah Education Policy Center, has cost about $11,600.
It's uncertain how much more a Taylorsville addendum might cost.
E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com
