Vote No on Canyons District Bond Election

I oppose the Canyons District Bond Proposition that will be on Tuesday’s ballot in my area. Please click here to see my summary of the proposed bond. Here are my reasons.

I question the funding model. I understand that bonding is the preferred funding method for the district, and that the district has done well maintaining a good bond rating. I acknowledge the claim that the bond will be tax neutral as the district’s debt payments for Jordan trail off. However, for years I’ve questioned the wisdom of bonding as I saw bond after bond awarded. In a school district in a State with its funding starting point as a the School Land Trust, it seems to me that the State’s districts should have built different funding models over the years.

I question wisdom of the move to 4-year high schools, and I certainly don’t think that a grade redistribution is a reasonable basis for new debt. I am not convinced that the move to 4-year high schools is needed to meet the district’s academic goals. It’s the kind of move to make if you have existing capacity to do it; it’s not a bond-worthy plan.
- This move to 4-year high schools relates directly to the district’s adoption of specialized high school diplomas, a move that I also oppose. (Interestingly, the District canceled many of its public meetings about the move to specialized diplomas, but was much more eager to hold public meetings about the bond issue. That feels more opportunist than reasonable.)

My school needs upgrade, has been ignored for too long, and doesn’t appear on the list of target schools. OK, that’s a blatantly selfish angle, and may not stand alone without the other 2 points of opposition. While I was on the Midvalley Elementary School Community Council in recent years, the needs for upgrades to the school came up all the time. The Council met with District representatives. But the school still is not receiving any funding for any upgrades or repairs. The district refuses to make any individual upgrades and repairs because it would prefer to do them all as a single project, yet it won’t prioritize that single project. As a result, the school’s parking lot is used only on special occasions because it cannot support regular use; the boiler fails regularly; and additional computers cannot be added to the school’s supplies because the electrical system is at or beyond capacity already and won’t support the new equipment.

I’d support a bond that simply did the upgrades and repairs that were needed. But rather than fix my school, the district is also bonding to build new schools (while many others lay empty or below capacity) that forward a 4-year high school plan that I oppose, which in turn forwards a specialized diplomas program that I also oppose.

It’s an easy “No.”