Enrollement imbalance?!? 45,000 remaining JSD, 35,000 for new district... Seems similar.
Building needs imabalance?!? $500-$700 million remaining JSD, and $500-$550 million to bring new district building up to code... Pretty close.
Taxable Value imbalance?!? Average cost of a home, median income, and demographics are virtually identical on both sides... In fact new district will have higher poverty and english as a 2nd language levels than the JSD. Most Title 1 schools are in the new district. [West side seems to "forget" this]
Mayor Money, by his own admission, has no idea how to pay for it all. Here's a suggestion - let the new district get to pay for rennovations (FINALLY) and let JSD proceed to deal with their growth (just like EVERY OTHER GROUP in SL County did with their own schools)...

Sen Waddups: this measure has already been meausre four times (three sessions and a special session). Sorry you seem to have been asleep during them. Suggesting that (now that you're awake) everything is rolled back so you can pay attention is ridiculous.

Ill conceived in the first place and yes....now that the "fine print" has come into play the east side powers that be are looking to point fingers elsewhere. For some answers: The new district did not want to take those Title I schools but had to because of the federal money situation. Your own consultant Mr. Bennett knew this...and if push came to shove the other cities were going to throw Midvale City under the proverbial bus and leave them out in the cold. This entire vote came about because of a few, power hunger people.....and if Governor Huntsman has any "stones" at all....he will call a special session and maybe, just maybe..they will call for a revote and include those people on the westside who were left without the opportunity to vote.

Quit stalling and just do it

The East side has been subsidizing the education of the West side for decades. It's time to let the West pay their costs. That is where the growth is, that is where the schools are needed. That is where the money should originate.

I live in Granite District, which is equally screwed up. We have no East side growth, have surplus junior high buildings, but are rebuilding Wasatch Jr only to appease some vocal parents. The whole district pays for cowardice among the Board. East has been subsidizing West for too long in both districts, and property taxes are too skewed for this to continue anywhere.

The West has no Title 1 programs. Heartland, Columbia and other West Jordan Schools were T1 schools a few years ago but that had to change status with less money available. Only Midvale and East Midvale remained after the policy/funding change. That doesn't mean that the East has more poverty, just that two schools had greater poverty needs.

Many of the schools on West side aren't up to code either. How easily you have forgotten that.

If all things are truly equal than the split should be done by geographical boundaries and nothing else. However, the split has turned into an illegal attempt to cancel the obligations of the 2003 bond election which gave most of the projects to the West side. That is what the whole reason for many was, to get out of the agreement to pay, not to improve education or to for more local power or whatever. It has been about money and greed, pure and simple.

It is time for the East to accept the split and the 2003 bond election responsibilities they committed to. They want money to rebuild, they must go to the voters and request a bond.

Good thing for EdM we still have freedom of speech and still no requirement that truth have anything to do with what you say/write/post!!!
There was never any doubt as to where the Midvale Title 1 schools would end up. Midvale made their own decision to "join" the interlocal group proposing a new district. They were always welcomed with open arms. Their inclusion not only allows for their schools to have a chance at refurbishment, but minimizes the displaced students (those living in one city and then having to go elsewhere to school).

EdM speaks the truth. The T1 schools were included because they had to be, for both the financial reasons and population ones. There was a great deal of chatter over this issue early on if you just go back and read the news, but there was no way to form a district without Midvale's inclusion. If they could have reformed the law enough to exclude Midvale, that would have happened to avoid the low test scores, the eventual cost of replacing/repairing those buildings and perhaps other reasons that bringing along Midvale will cause.

I disagree wholeheartedly with '1st Amendment'. Both Midvale Elementary and Middle Schools had a greater chance of refurbishment by staying with the West because the voters are more willing to approve Bond issues when they still have growth needs. The East has grown out save Draper, and has declining student populations. They also have a very vocal group complaining about property taxes who might fight a bond. That leaves whether a bond would be approved as questionable, though it still should go through after a tough fight.

(and by that I mean swing and a miss)...he's wrong on Both points.
Midvale had every chance/right/opportunity to be included or expcluded. There is NOTHING in the law that compels their inclusion or exclusion. That decision was solely in the hands of the Midvale City Council. The only "reform" to the law that allowed for ANY change to incorporating an entire city was the one done for Suncrest in Utah County that is part of Draper. Granted Midvales inclusion make the new district match up to existing school boundaries much nicer, but that by no means compels them to be included.

As to refurbishing Midvale Elementary et al. That comment is the straight-down-the-line-same-load-of-$#@# that the JSD board has been shoveling for years and was a major component of why many voted for a new district. To falsely claim "new building needs" make people more willing to approve "fixing delapidated building needs" smacks of the ignorance shown by the JSD board on what people (at least in the new district) really want. That igornace is what got us here. No surprise that toe-the-line-lemming mantra is coming from Jarvis.

Majestic is a Title 1 school.

I am correct on both points. Without Midvale, Draper and Sandy would not meet the population criteria needed to vote on splitting. They had to include Midvale or no split.

Utah Bond election history supports what I said. Things that aren't needed are often included to get a bond passed. Take a look at any school bond without emotional attachment and you will see that fact clearly.

JSD renovates and puts upkeep in every school during the summer. They patch up holes, install carpets and paint. They also resurfaced, building better parking and drop-off lanes at many schools recently. Have you already forgotten Copperview's rebuild last year? Sandy wasn't a planned remodel, but was gutted and remodeled after the fire.

Your forgetfulness of how well JSD has met your needs over the years is quite remarkable. I had to bus forty minutes to Bingham Middle, a school built turn of the century back because your needs were greater on the East.

Toe-the-Line Lemming? Hardly. I am in the Charter school system separate from JSD. I speak the truth because I care about the direction of education for our children. This split jeopardizes the quality these kids will get.

The longer you delay this the more bitter people become. Teachers are unhappy, parents are unhappy. Just do it.

Mr. Jarvis - the population requirement for creatin a new district was 65,000 people (it's now 50,000 now at the request of South Jordan and Taylorsville).
Draper has ~35,000, Sandy has ~96,000, Cottonwood Heighs has ~35,000, and Midvale ~26,000. As such Sandy could "go it alone" or in combination with any contiguous city. CH/Midvale could have as well - if you solely were thinking population requirements.

Bond elections are whay they are - to claim that "new buildings" superceed refurbhishment dollars depends entirely upon the population to be served.

Patching carpets is not the same as refurbishin g buildings. Even with the refurbishments/improvements that have happened in the east since 2003 (when the bond was passed with promises), JSD board/district is still almost $70 million BEHIND in meeting those minimal 2003 bond commitments! They're not even close to meeting promised made in the last 5 years, not to mention the last 20?
Back in the day, some students had 90 minute rides home 'cause the bus went WEST to Herriman from Jordan HS first. To equate bussing across farmland (lower population density) to bussing within the suburbs in the 21st century doesn't ring true.

Quit crying and spilling the tears the split is happening. Divide and move on instead of us reading about the self important JSD daily. Barry and his little chickies will have to just deal with a much smaller inferior district now that the east wants to be on their own.

There you go again. You must be Reesonspk. The proposed District would not have had enough student population to go forward, hence Midvale's inclusion. Secondly, the legislature changed the law lowering requirements to exclude SL County from being able to block the split during the special session meant to 'clarify' what the split was supposed to do. That wasn't at the bequest of SJ or T-Ville.

Your 90 minute bus ride furthers my point. We built the East while our needs (which were less at the time) were not met. My bus trip wasn't exactly through farm land. The last half was through Kennecott property, the first half weaving all through SJ.

Costs always go up and the state under funds education. Instead of crying over what can't get done, enjoy what has been done. The east side schools are in pretty solid shape and should be able to go on for years before being replaced. You have few students in portables instead of classrooms. And you have the gem of the district buildings in Jordan High.

Again - the original law allowed for a population of 65,000 or more to form a new district (was that unclear?) so Sandy could have done it solo, had they wished or with any combinantion of the 4 other cities. Lowering the threshold to 50,000 was done as T-villes and SJ request - Sorry, that's the truth, and I heard it straight from elected officials of each city...
Changing the law to allow a new district to be created rather than veto'd by 4% of the population only makes sense. If we ran everything where 4% dictates what the other 96% can do, we'd surely be in major mess. The SL County Council was poised do just that - while only representing 4% of the citizens in the area in question. They mistakenly thought they represented everyone though the other 96% were already represented by their municiple councils. Therefore their role was clarified.
Mind you, under the modified law 80% of the population in a proposed district must be represented by "yes" votes on their municipal council - a high bar to clear. Any two or three of the cities could've "veto'd" the proposal - but the didn't.

The majority should rule in every instance? Yet with the split it wasn't the majority, only the East had the 'right' to vote forming two new districts. And the roughly 45 percent who got to vote and voted no, they get shafted too.

Those 4% had their rights revoked because they were asking the legislature to define the process. Their concern had to do with attending Cottonwood High outside the district. The legislature revoked their rights forcing them to be brought along with reassurances, because they would represent an 'island' if left out disallowing the split.

Midvale was required to make the district functional, as the new District would not have had a high enough student population to operate properly. Student population drives how much money a District has to operate. Districts use state money based on students (WPU) for nearly all operational costs like textbooks, teacher salary, administrative salary, etc. Without Midvale, JSED would not be financially solvent.

Your argument was sound if I were arguing the same sort of population numbers. It was the number of students that required Midvale's inclusion, not residents of cities.

SJ and T-Ville

SJ already had the population numbers to go it alone. In fact the city council voted against putting a split vote of their own on the ballot last year. They would not be requesting such a change because it would not effect them. I might believe T-Ville since I don't know their population, but not SJ. Perhaps you 'misremembered' this one.

You're out Steven Jarvis! The current population, taken directly from South Jordan city's Web site "is estimated to be 51,363."

The only way SJ could even consider putting the matter on the ballot was when the threshhold was lowered (at their request and Taylorsville's) from a population of 65,000 to 50,000.

You failed to acknowledge the reason Midvale had to be included in the Split---the point I hit a home run with. I also note your lack of courage or immaturity to not use your name in this discussion.

Midvale had to be included to make the District solvent. Your city numbers do not matter when they do not tell the numbers of students. It is estimated that the population of students will be around 35K for JSDE. With all the promises made, they will still be short on money, or short on promises. Since the State does not allow schools to operate in debt, the promises will be short-changed.

When the promises are unfulfilled, the children will bear the brunt of your foolishness, at least those not lucky enough to get into Charter schools.