This is at the heart of why we want to start a new school district. 1. Your voice would be heard. Right now, the district is so large that concerns—like issues with Chromebooks—often get ignored. In a smaller district, your representative might only cover two elementary schools, making it much easier to bring up concerns and actually see change happen in the classroom. 2. We could pay teachers more. Smaller districts like Murray and Park City pay their teachers better, and that helps them attract and keep great educators. We could do the same in our own smaller district. 3. We’d have better solutions for eratic class sizes. Right now, the district’s only answer seems to be closing schools. But with local leadership that understands our specific needs, we could find smarter, more community-focused ways to reduce class sizes and respond to our area’s unique challenges.

With recent elementary school closures and another boundary study in progress, it's become clear that our voices are not being heard in decisions that deeply impact our community. These choices carry long-term consequences for our families and neighborhoods. Now is the time to consider dividing our district—so we can pursue solutions that are better aligned with the unique needs of our children and community.

By law, teacher contracts are transferable to a new school district. Educators will retain the tenure they accrued with Granite School District, and their current salary will be honored.

We want to be clear: the intention behind exploring a new school district is not to separate ourselves from the west side, and we are deeply committed to ensuring that no school or student is “left behind.” To understand why the west side will continue to have their needs met, it helps to look at how school funding works in Utah. Schools are funded through a combination of sources: State funding comes from the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU), a dollar amount set by the legislature that is the same for every student, no matter where they live. Local funding is tied to property taxes, and without a feasibility study, we don’t yet know how our specific communities would be positioned in this area. Federal funding, such as Title I, provides critical support to schools serving low-income populations. These funds are designed to follow the students who need them, and they would continue to provide essential resources—like additional teachers, aides, and after-school support—to the schools that rely on them most. The Title I schools on the west side will be unaffected by this split. It’s also important to recognize that many students within our own communities have needs that are currently being overlooked. The existing district provides limited resources to support these students. By creating a new district, we would have the opportunity to develop and implement targeted resources that directly address the needs of this underserved population. Together, South Salt Lake, Millcreek, and Holladay could form a district focused on the specific needs of our students. This is about creating a school district where every community matters, where every student is seen, and where local voices have the power to shape the future of their schools.

The GTI is an outstanding program and valuable resource, currently serving students from across the valley through open enrollment. Although it is located within the boundaries of the proposed new district, students from many other districts already attend. Going forward, it would be up to the new district to decide whether to continue the program. A partnership or contract with Granite School District could also be explored to ensure its continued operation.

While we’re saddened by the closure of any schools in our community, the cities were unable to act quickly enough to prevent the PAC study from moving forward. We understand how deeply disappointing this is for many of our neighbors. That’s why we remain committed to pursuing a new school district—so that as we face declining enrollment, we can approach these challenges together, as a unified community, and find the best solutions for our students and families.