Splitting districts could be short-sighted
Marjorie Cortez
Now some east-side communities are considering opting out of their respective school districts to form their own. A new study commissioned by leaders of Holladay, South Salt Lake and Salt Lake County found that opting out of the school district would mean more resources for fewer students in those east-side communities. Those who would remain in the Granite School District would very likely be saddled with higher taxes to cope with growth. As Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall cautioned in a recent Deseret Morning News report, "There's nothing positive that can come out of this for the city of Taylorsville."
Worse, it grates against the historical purpose of public education, which is we're all in this thing together. It means that people in east-side neighborhoods help pay for school construction on the west side because that's where the growth is. It means everyone supports the program because today's students are our future leaders and work force. The benefits of a well-educated population are well-documented. All means all, indeed.
One of the most oft-heard arguments for opting out of the school district is more parental involvement and local control. I'd venture I've attended a few hundred school board meetings during my journalism career. People tend to ignore the vast majority of issues that come before boards of education. Even decisions that hit people where they live — sizable property tax increases — go unnoticed until the property tax notices arrive. How would this phenomenon change in a smaller school district?
I'm not suggesting that school boards and public processes are perfect. Far from it. It's part of the reason we're at this juncture. There needs to be more opportunities for interaction when school patrons, school board members and top administrators aren't engaged in battle. I'm not talking about the opportunity to make brief statements at school board meetings. (I recall one parent prefacing her remarks to a school board saying, "I feel like I have to talk to you in sound bites." Not good.) What if school board members had a greater presence at school community council meetings and school functions? Just maybe, constituents could attend a school board meeting once in a while to develop a greater understanding how the process works.
As I gaze into the crystal ball given me when I joined the editorial board of the Deseret Morning News, I wonder if we're looking at this issue all wrong. Instead of carving east-west, why not create a brand new school district on the far west side of the Salt Lake Valley, where hundreds of thousands of Utahns will reside in the coming years?
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