Panel shelves bill on school district splits

A bill that would allow all residents in a school district a vote if the district is to split failed in the Senate Education Committee on Friday.

Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, who sponsored SB123, said he doesn't plan to try again. "I just don't have the time," said Hillyard, who serves as the Senate budget chairman.

However, in interviews after the meeting, Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said he plans to chat with Hillyard about reviving the bill, which arose as a result of issues surrounding Jordan School District split.

The northern Utah lawmaker emphasized he has no personal interest in the Jordan District issue. "I don't have a dog in this fight," he said.

Hillyard said he has gotten numerous emotional phone calls for and against the bill.

"I'm glad I don't live in Jordan School District," he said. "I am hearing some very, very nasty comments on both sides."

In November 2007, east-side residents voted, as is allowed by law, to leave Jordan District and form their own school district. The division is scheduled to be official in July. The new entity is called Canyons School District.

Stephenson proposed an amendment to Hillyard's bill that would require a vote of the entire district only if the proposed new district was to have 15,000 students or 25 percent of the current district's enrollment.

Stephenson's intent was to encourage smaller districts rather than "the two mega districts that we currently have as a result of the split."

Hillyard agreed with the amendment, which passed the Committee 6-1.

Carlene Walker, a former state senator who ran previous legislation on school district splits, said Stephenson's amendment was a "step in the right direction."

The Utah School Boards Association supports Hillyard's bill, as does the American Federation of Teachers in Utah.

Bill supporter Susan Kuziak, former Utah Education Association director said the current law creates bad feelings between the two sides of a district. "An animosity that is hard to overcome," she said.

But Laura Pinnock, chairwoman of the Utah Small Districts Coalition, said lawmakers should wait and see how the Jordan District split goes before passing Hillyard's bill. "I still believe what has been done there is the right thing to do," she said. "It will work."