Bill would place limits on splitting school districts


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SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers approved a bill Monday that would implement financial safeguards for when school districts split, keeping revenues in line with costs.

HB93, first introduced more than a month ago, would require that in order to form new school districts by splitting an old one, projected income in the new districts would not be allowed to exceed the projected costs by more than 5 percent.

There are currently three ways a school district can split, including a citizens initiative petition, the school board of the existing district can approve a split, or a city council can approve a split at the request of local stakeholders. HB93 would only apply to the last approach.

"This bill is about making sure that in the creation of a new school district we don't end up with a situation where we have 70 percent of the tax base and 30 percent of the kids (in one district), or even worse, 70 percent of the kids and 30 percent of the tax base (in the other)," said bill sponsor Rep. Craig Hall, R-West Valley City.

A splitting district would not be bound by the policy if stakeholders enter into an interlocal agreement with every involved municipality about the terms of the split.

Rep. Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, said the bill would provide necessary protection for schools in order to hold harmless the funding for students should a split occur.

"This shouldn't be about the money," McCay said. "If you have a governance issue, if you have a problem, then let's deal with the governance issue and let's deal with the problem. But let's not deal with it being about the money."

The bill passed the House Education Committee in a 5-3 vote and will now go before the full House.

"This is a good, bipartisan bill that protects taxpayers and protects students," Hall said. Email: mjacobsen@deseretnews.com Twitter: MorganEJacobsen

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