SL County Council to Cast Key Vote in Smaller District Debate

None by KCPW

West Side Communities Get No Say in the Matter

(KCPW News) Whether or not East side cities can split from the Granite and Jordan School Districts has now boiled down to a few key votes. East side voters will have their chance to approve the split this November, but only if a few more city councils give the nod. And residents on the West side who stay in the old school districts don't get a vote at all:

"Very much like annexing into a city," says Salt Lake County Council Chair Mark Crockett. "The people who joined Murray recently, for example, were the only people who voted on that question. And the current state law for dividing a school district is set up the same way. So only people who want to split their own district are the ones who get to decide."

Crockett and his colleagues will cast the final vote to determine whether a district split goes on the ballot. That's because the County Council speaks for portions of unincorporated Salt Lake County - such as Millcreek Township - which are proposing to join the smaller school districts. Other participating city councils are set to make their decisions by the end of the month. Crockett says it may take the County Council until mid-August to decide, since council members are getting pressure from constituents in the new school district as well as those on the West side who fear a split will leave them stranded:

"We wear two hats as the county council," says Crockett. "It will be an interesting conversation and it certainly matters more than almost everything we decide - certainly matters more than the soccer stadium for example. This is real. This is the lives of our children."

Crockett's district includes Millcreek Township. And he says he's inclined to support the district split because a newly-completed feasibility study suggests both the newer district and the remaining Granite School District will be viable. Others on the County Council are less convinced, and many West side communities and teachers unions are rallying their opposition.

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