Twelve years ago, the former Jordan school district split into what is still Jordan and what is now Canyons School District. This year’s graduating class is the first grade to have been in Canyons for the entirety of their school career, so this is an excellent time to look back on it.

There was a great deal of controversy around the split. Many believed that it was a decision made by the privileged for reasons that had nothing to do with education.

Hillcrest teacher Scott Stucki was teaching when the split happened and shared his feelings. “There weren’t any educational reasons for it,” Stucki said, presenting the reason for the split as Draper and Cottonwood Heights having been concerned about the schools in the area that had recently been closed down.

However, if the goal of the split was to recover the lost schools, it didn’t succeed, as the reasons for those schools being shut down weren’t reversed with the split. Instead, many believe that the split’s purpose was to separate the higher-income families in Canyons School District from the average lower incomes in Jordan.

Notably, the decision was far from unanimous, even in Canyons. While Draper and Cottonwood Heights favored the change, Sandy was split, and Midvale was in favor of remaining unified.

Of course, the split is far from reversible at this point, so attempts to question the cause are unlikely to have much impact. All those involved can reexamine their reasons for making decisions and be prepared to use the best reasoning possible when making future similar decisions. It’s always good to examine past decisions, and there are few better times to do so than at a landmark such as this.