Delay Jordan Split

The effort underway to split the large Jordan School District can officially be declared an unequivocal mess.

Before it gets any messier - before arbitrators and high-priced attorneys get more involved and legal proceedings proliferate - the Utah Legislature needs to step in and clarify its intentions regarding the split. Indeed, lawmakers ought to delay implementation of the split until a more detailed plan for moving forward can be adopted. Especially needed is a specific mechanism for dividing the district's assets.

As it stands, transition team members are at loggerheads over who should get what. Each side is fighting for a bigger piece of the pie. At stake, of course, are millions of dollars. But beyond money are the thousands of children whose education future will be dramatically affected by the outcome.

Westside legislators and other local political leaders want Governor Huntsman to call a special session to unravel the mess. It ought to be done. KSL can understand his reticence, though, because he placed the issue on a special session agenda last summer, and lawmakers failed to act.

This time, failure isn't an option. The Jordan School District split should be delayed . . . and then the legislature should enact clear-cut separation formulas to clean up the mess they've created.