Opinion
Stallings: City Councils and interlocal boards should stay out of school board decisions
Last spring, fourteen cities in north Utah County came together to allow residents to vote on creating new school districts. As city leaders, we saw the need for local control. There are very different needs in different parts of Alpine School District, and dividing those needs among smaller, local districts provides representation closer to the people and better able to address those needs.
We in municipal government well understand and appreciate the principle of local control. For instance, while we were elected to make local land use decisions, too often the state legislature feels a responsibility to step in to fix the problems they see. Without a clear understanding of the nuances of the issues, however, these “fixes” often create more problems. Local city councils have the knowledge and understanding to best address those issues in our areas. It’s our stewardship and what we were elected to do.
Likewise, locally elected school board members are best able to do what they are elected to do—oversee school districts. This June, potential school board candidates will file to run. During the campaign season, they will speak with residents, parents, teachers, school employees, current board members and district staff. They will pour over district data, inventory lists, and asset and liability reports. While going through this process, they will gather useful knowledge and perspectives, which they will develop into platforms to communicate their vision for the new school district. In November, voters will choose which candidates best reflect their own vision and desires for the new district. Elected board members will then hire a superintendent, a business administrator and other district staff to work through the allocation process with them.
Having school board members work through the allocation process is vitally important. In dividing up assets and liabilities, board members will understand what they have and why, what they are yet lacking and how to move forward. There will be negotiations and compromises, but because they will deal with the long-term outcomes, they will ensure that any compromises are doable. There will be a strong motivation to develop good relationships between districts because they will need to continue to work together for years to come with shared services. School board members will also be accountable to voters and be careful not to run up unnecessary costs. Unlike contracted consultants, they won’t be walking away at the end of the day. They just can’t be handed a plan created by someone else. Going through the process and creating a plan is essential for new board members to gain understanding, build relationships, and direct the outcomes.
In short, they will do the job they were elected to do.
Some in city leadership believe it’s the responsibility of cities’ interlocal boards to oversee the start-up process. They are pushing for legislation that puts them in charge. They fear if they don’t, they will fall behind other cities. They are discussing hiring a marketing team, multiple consulting firms and are lobbying for legislation requiring the new districts to reimburse all costs.
While mayors and city council members may understand land use and transportation issues, their knowledge doesn’t necessarily extend to school district issues. This lack of knowledge became apparent in the last interlocal board meeting when it was concluded that the interlocal will have to rely on what the consultants tell them they need the consultants to do because they didn’t know themselves.
According to state law, school districts shall be controlled by respective local school boards and shall be independent of municipal government. I believe there is wisdom in that.
During the Jordan-Canyons school district split, cities also hired transition teams to oversee the start-up process. As we know, that didn’t work out very well. Perhaps the Jordan-Canyons split should be used as a cautionary tale rather than as a model to replicate.
City council members and mayors were not elected to oversee school districts. Let’s focus on what we were elected to do and allow the new school board the opportunity to do their job as well.
Michelle Stallings
Lehi, Utah
