Utah's newest school district will celebrate opening day Wednesday.

The Canyons School District will host myriad events, including a sign-changing ceremony, bus parade and birthday party.

In November 2007, east-side Salt Lake Valley residents voted to leave Jordan School District and form their own district. The district division will be official Wednesday, with the west side remaining as Jordan School District, and the newly named Canyons District, the state's 41st, existing on the east side.

Canyons District Superintendent Dave Doty said he is looking forward to the mix of tradition and change.

"We're walking into 100 years of history," Doty said. "We'll change some things. But we have an excellent foundation on which to put the bricks of change."

Doty added, however, that during the past nine months since becoming superintendent, he has discovered "there are some cracks in the foundation that did lead to the split."

Besides the disconnect that may come with a large school district such as Jordan with its 80,000 students, handling the aging school buildings on the east side versus dealing with the growth on the west side was an issue, he said.

Tracy Cowdell, president of Canyons School Board, said there was a division among board members before the split because of "the finite amount of resources."

Cowdell campaigned against the split but has now changed his mind.

"In hindsight, I was wrong," he said.

There were aging Title 1 school buildings in his area that were being ignored whereas "if you moved into a new neighborhood on the west side, you got a brand new school without even paying a dime into the system," he said.

Canyons District comprises Cottonwood Heights, Sandy, Midvale, Alta and Draper.

Now the fifth-largest school district in the state, it has 33,000 students in 29 elementary schools, eight middle schools, four high schools, one technical center, two schools serving students with special needs and four special programs.



Canyons celebration

July 1

 9 a.m. - Breakfast, time capsule, student essay winners, Alta Lodge, Alta School Resort, Little Cottonwood Canyon

 12:30 to 12:45 p.m. - Sign changing, Hillcrest High School, 7350 S. 900 East, Midvale

 2 to 3 p.m. - Bus parade, starting at Cottonwood Heights Elementary School, 2415 E. 7600 South

 3 to 5 p.m. - Birthday cake, music, meet staff, Cottonwood Heights Elementary

E-mail: astewart@desnews.com