From Deseret News archives:

Teams picked to help split district

Published: Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007 1:16 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Bank bosses, attorneys, former school and college heads — these guys will decide who gets what when the Jordan School District officially splits in 2009.

Both east and west sides of the district have created transition teams, which by law must divide what's owned and what's owed within Utah's largest school district.

The west-side team, announced Tuesday by the Jordan Board of Education, will be led by Ralph Haws, a former president of the Jordan Board of Education and a retired labor relations specialist and school boss.

Other members are: South Jordan city administrator Rick Horst; Don Wallace, president, COO and general counsel of the Sorenson Group-Real Estate Division; Continental Bank vice-chairman, director and CFO Dennis Higbee; and Mountain America Credit Union executive vice president and CAO Sterling Nielsen.

Alternates are school board member Peggy Jo Kennett and West Jordan City Councilwoman Melissa Johnson.

Story continues below
The east-side team, firmed up last week, is: Jason Burningham, a principal in Lewis Young Robertson & Burningham Inc., which performed the feasibility study on the new district creation; Bob Day, retired facilities manager for Jordan District; former Sandy mayor and lawyer Steve Newton; former Jordan District business administrator Devon Sanderson; and former Draper budget officer and city councilman Lamont Smith.

Alternates are: David Doty, Utah System of Higher Education assistant commissioner and director of policy studies; former College of Eastern Utah president and current Utah Education Network director Michael Peterson; and asset evaluation specialist Mike Shelton, founder, president and CEO of Golden Gate Ventures.

The east-side team will meet Friday, Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore Jr. said. The west-side team met Tuesday.

Jordan is the first Utah school district to split.

District officials by Jan. 4 will give the teams a list of assets and liabilities, which by law must be divided by July 1.

"It's a straightforward process; we're not looking at programs; we're looking at assets, the liabilities, the bonded indebtedness," Haws said. "It is what it is."

Both sides believe the work will be amicable, and include meetings alone and together.

"We intentionally, and I think the other team as well intentionally, looked for people who would be non-adversarial," Cullimore said. "Our hope is in the long run, everybody's looking at (assets) on a global basis; these are assets currently owned by every taxpayer in Jordan School District — not, 'This is ours, that is theirs."'

Meanwhile, Herriman City's lawsuit challenging the district split vote — west-siders had no say — is scheduled for a Feb. 29 hearing in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, attorney Blake Ostler said.


E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com

Recent comments

You may be thinking of Referendum 1 which addressed school vouchers....

Anonymous | Dec. 20, 2007 at 5:16 p.m.

I thought this didn't pass at the last voting session.

Confused | Dec. 20, 2007 at 6:26 a.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

True. It's not terribly funny and if it has any effect on society, it won't...

Letters: Christian founders

What else would you expect to find in a book called "The Founders on Religion"?

5A: Davis runs over Hunter

Ok not to be rude here, but check the stats, Hinds isnt first in yards and...

t-hinds = best player in utah

Anonymous: Was that English? I though conservatives believed if you are in...

Attack meant to kill apostle

Wow! Glad the Lord kept you safe. Separate comment: That was a horrible...

5A: Bingham rolls to title game

I have never been to a Utah high school game before as I am not from the...

Sponsor for gay-rights bills found

It would behoove the above commenters to recall that religion, including our...

Vandals take advantage of young Utes

Only 8000 attendance? BYU had 16,000+ tonight. What is wrong with Ute fans?...

ian you are the 3A MVP If you win next week so just do it that would be nice....

Advertisements
Advertisement