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Canyons School District spends $2,400 on party

Their matching shirts costs more than $2,800.

I'm having a really hard time believing this is all that was spent. What about all the advertising that was done? The cost of the newsletter that came to my home? What about their new signs, the doormats I saw on TV? The shirts that everyone was wearing on TV? How can 7 buses only cost $16? Seems this list is really only the tip of the iceberg. I don't really care how much they spent, but as a taxpayer I want them to be honest about the real costs. Why does the Canyons feel it even has to defend this? This whole article is very weird.

Other big districts probably spend that much to kick off the year. Why not put that in the article for perspective. This is a once in a hundred year event, though I hope it doesn't take another 100 years to happen again.

The next time Canyons School District shells out cash like that, it better be on out-dated textbooks!

$16.00 to run an entire fleet of buses throughout the city? Where are they buying their fuel? I want in. How much did it cost for hundreds of employees to take yet another day off to party? Let me guess, only $7.42. What a crack up! Hey, I know, we will tell the public that this entire split only cost pennies and they will believe it and say how responsible we are. After that, we tell them that we are going to lower taxes, lower class sizes and renovate all of their school buildings for free, and they will believe that also. Finally, we will tell them that a $400 million dollar bond won't make a difference on their property taxes either, and like a bunch of lemmings, they will believe us. Wake up people! You have been duped.

it's ok east siders can afford it, that is why they split

It looks like the Canyons school district not only got stuck with the old east side buildings but they inherited all of the "dead wood" teachers and administrators that were the root of so many problems in the old mega school district.

Obviously the primary concern of the administrators/teachers in the new district is not the children but "what's in it for me?".

That is the reason for the split. They would rather pay for a big party than help some disadvantaged kid on the west side. The problem in America is that we've now become more economically polarized and selfish. What made this country strong was the effort to pull together and provide for the common good. I predict that eventually, America will have an education system like most third world countries (one for the wealthy classes and one for the poorer classes). We are already moving in that direction in Utah, so it will be interesting to see where we end up in 30 years. If history is any predictor, it won't be pretty.

Why was this even news? A kickoff event for a new school district isn't worthy of an expose.

this article is just one more example of why working for the public sector bites the big boot. Every little expenditure is put under the microscope, and then when something even looks marginally suspect a huge scandal erupts. Corporations hold parties for their employees. Churches spend church budgets on more than just scriptures. But if a school has a party, the whole world comes to an end. No wonder no one actually wants to work for this sort of organization. You get low pay, kicked around by parents and the state for not being a miracle worker, and when it comes to esprit-di-corp, the public cynics put your head in the public toilet and flush... nice hairdo.

I wish the article would have shown the value of donations made by businesses. I was more than happy to donate for the event. I just wish I could have given more.

Unfortunately, instead of creating an efficient, new school district focused on delivering quality education to our students, we seem to have ended up with a clone of the inefficient monster bureaucracy we wanted to leave.

If this initial self-serving publicity event, and the blatantly inaccurate reporting of costs is any indication of the way the new district will be run, it may be necessary to fire the entire top management in the coming months.

People have already noticed that the new district's bureaucratic structure is top heavy, bloated and overpaid.

Keep an eye on these people, they are not serving the taxpayers or students of the new district in the manner expected of them.

By the looks of the events, you should have hired a professional. This comes from a marketing professional with 20+ years of experience. You should not apologize for spending money to showcase a day as historic and significant as this. To the Canyons administration -- you get what you pay for!

As Marie Antoinette said, "let them eat cake."

Lighten up, folks. I'm a taxpayer, too and I believe the launch of a new district is cause for celebration. I commend the district for spending so little - it's actually quite amazing they could pull it off on such a tight budget.

And to everyone who continues to think the district is just for rich, east-side snobs, I live on the east side and am by no means rich. My children will go to Midvale Middle and East Sandy Elementary. I'll look around for rich snobs when school starts, but I don't think I'll find many at either school.

Canyons will always get bad press. You won't ever hear that Jordan spent more on its logo than CSD did on its entire opening day ceremony! A child could have made that logo on Publisher for free. CSD spent about $350 on their logo. BUT, What matters is that our children are getting a great education, no matter what district they live in. I don't believe they could get a quality education in a district that had to deal with 90 schools. CSD has great intentions and I think the press is only stirring up undue resentment. I wish they would stop already. Both districts have a common goal. Put away the magnifying glasses and get to business.

yeah you on the east side get no increase in taxes the west side over 200 dollars average on property. And you have the gall to say you built the schools on the west side when I was kid draper was farms and farm houses, Riverton was a city long ago and so was south jordan and west jordan. We built your schools and your rich buddies took the vote from us. And the poor kids on both side of town will lose. Have more partys. anyone that reads knows how low life things worked out.

So, is this what the new Canyons District means when it promises transparency? These numbers are ridiculous. Why would they think that anyone would believe that a "parade" of seven buses cost $16.31.

As a patron of Canyons School District, I do not care what the District spent on the "inauguration day" events. I do, however, care about class size, teacher compensation, and education technology. I truly hope Dr. Doty and his oh-so-happy team can stop the celebrating begin to work on the fundamentals of public education.

I attended the party, rode a Canyons bus, had a piece of birthday cake, and talked with many district personnel that were in attendance. It was fun!

I know that the Board of Education and the CSD administration have been working long hours to get the school district up and running. CSD administration members were culled from several districts and the USOE. They have good ideas. They will build on what has been done well and will make it even better. Because they come from several districts and varied backgrounds, they have first hand knowledge of what has worked in those districts and can tap into that knowledge.

The atmosphere at the celebration was positive and definitely "can do!" Will it be perfect? No. Will mistakes be made. Of course. Will a new culture be established? I think so. I like the ideas that Dr. Doty has been writing about in his "Between the Lines" articles. His desire to increase academic rigor and improve students' preparation for college is right on. The desire to address safety and seismic issues at the CSD schools is long overdue.

Forge forward. Good luck!

You're too funny!

This is not a story propagated by the media - biased or otherwise. This is a hyperbol laden press release straight from the district itself. What reporter would go to such great lengths to "prove" that the district is being oh so frugale? Sheesh! This is such an obvious cut and paste job received from the district; I'm surprised that Amy K. Stewart actually signed her name to it!

Then again, I guess if you call comments on this string, pointing out how ridiculous the district claims are, as biased media. I guess you're right!