City officials from Cottonwood Heights to Draper touted the idea as an exercise in self-determination that would result in greater local control.

Tell that to Midvale.

Nearly 60 percent of its residents voted last week against the split, according to an analysis of unofficial returns, but they will have to be part of the new district anyway because 53 percent of east-siders overall backed the move.

So Midvale is stuck - thanks to an interlocal agreement with neighboring cities - and must join Cottonwood Heights, Sandy, Draper, Alta and pockets of unincorporated Salt Lake County in launching a new district July 1, 2009.

Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, who has stayed neutral on whether to split the district, is not surprised by her city's lack of support.

"It's going to have quite an impact on some of our Midvale schools," said Seghini, a retired Jordan district teacher and administrator. "I've had some serious concerns all along that creating a school district is very complicated and . . . we don't have much time."

Midvale and Copperview elementaries, she warned, will receive less Title I funds in a new district because the federal government doles out the money based on district size. Midvale voters also might have shied away from the split because they are satisfied with the service that Jordan delivers, she added.

But it was a "no-win" situation for Midvale, Seghini said. If the city had not joined in the smaller-district movement and the east side seceded, Midvale would have lost Hillcrest High, which draws half its student body from Sandy.

"We did not have a resounding commitment from [Midvale] voters that [dividing Jordan] was their No. 1 choice. But I'll do everything I can to make sure a new school district is successful," said Seghini, who will be part of the new district's transition team.

A chief backer of the split, Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore, chalked up Midvale's dissent to low voter turnout. The issue wasn't as ''critical'' as it was in Cottonwood Heights, where the split initiative began, he said. Cottonwood Heights voters, with a 63 percent majority, endorsed the measure.

Cottonwood Heights (population 35,000) is slightly larger than Midvale (27,000), but its turnout more than doubled Midvale's - 8,217 people cast ballots in Cottonwood Heights compared with 3,849 in Midvale.

"This kind of a low voter turnout was indicative that [Midvale voters] were fine with it either way," Cullimore said.

Midvale resident Lithia Heumann, who voted against ditching Jordan, complained about the lack of information available to residents about the split.

"It's going to be an ugly divorce . . . and it's going to be the students of the [entire] Jordan district who are going to suffer," said Heumann, who has five children in school and is chairwoman of Copperview Elementary's community council.

Residents of unincorporated Salt Lake County, whose elected officials on the County Council did not have a say in putting the issue on the ballot, also voted against the split with a 62 percent majority.

rwinters@sltrib.com