Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore Jr. says he's also surprised a west-side group hasn't formed. It would be hard for west-siders to effectively campaign in a community that wants it, he adds.

In May, a Dan Jones & Associates poll conducted by the county's east-side cities wanting to split from Jordan School District found that 89 percent of residents favored putting the district split on the ballot. Supporters, Cullimore added, have all banded into the C4SSD group and partnered with the Small School Districts Coalition, a grass-roots group that formed three years ago, but a new school district still isn't a given.

"If (voters) don't want it, we certainly wouldn't pursue it," Cullimore said. "The thing that's been hard to generate a lot of citizens' momentum has been the question mark. There's been lots of questions if it will go on the ballot. It wasn't cleared to go on the ballot until the first of September."

But now, just weeks before the Nov. 6 general election, Cullimore said he is nervous the city will have to battle the rumor mill. There is not much of a chance for strong public dialogue since Jordan School District voted Tuesday to retract their neutral stance on the split issue and instead voted 4-3 against it.

"We've been doing this for two years and for them to wait three weeks before the election to take a position, that leaves little time for debate," he said, adding he was surprised they changed their decision. "To suggest to the people that there will be a loss of programs, loss of jobs, there's nothing to support that. In fact, the feasibility study said there will not be a loss of jobs or a loss of programs."

South Jordan City Manager Rick Horst said he's glad the district took a position that is in line with his community's concerns, but the decision came a day late and a tax-dollar short. The risk of not having a choice in what happens to the Jordan School District has prompted South Jordan to commission a feasibility study into creating their own district that should be completed by early December. Recent legislation dropped the population minimum for school districts down from 65,000 to 50,000, allowing South Jordan to consider the option.

"Our first thought is that this is a global issue, and we'd like to attack it globally, but at some point you're down to doing the best thing for your own citizens," Horst said. "We want to understand what our options are, and at least now we have options, where we didn't before."