State education officials are discussing both proposals.

A state Board of Education committee is pondering whether to cap school districts at 30,000 students.

The same group also is drafting a more lenient open-enrollment policy dictating how many students may attend classes outside their designated schools.

The committee will gather more data and revisit both issues. Discussions Thursday repeatedly questioned how the board could balance policies that satisfy parents without overburdening districts.

"I have no doubt in all my working with the districts that they're trying to meet the needs of schools and parents and communities," said Mark Cluff of Alpine, chairman of the board's finance committee. "As we try to over-define what needs to happen, we become more concerned with what's best for us, what's easiest for us, and forget what's best for the parent and the child."

A new open enrollment policy likely will emerge this summer, but the committee hasn't yet decided whether to take a stance on district size.

"We should discuss and come to an opinion on district sizes and whether we should be involved in that," Cluff said. "The question is, do we want to throw ourselves into the midst of this?"

Districts reach an optimal size - a sweet spot balancing economies of scale with effective community representation - at between 15,000 and 25,000 students, limited research suggests.

Capping Utah's districts at 30,000 students would force the creation of five new districts in Jordan, Alpine, Granite and Davis school districts, according to the state Office of Education.

And a new district in Weber County wouldn't be far behind.

At least one board member objected to state school board involvement, while others thought guidance from the board could help remove politics and emotion from decisions to split districts.

Communities within several Utah districts are considering secession, resulting in emotionally charged debates at community, city and state government levels.

A new law allowing more school board members in large districts might appease parents while avoiding the trauma of splitting districts, suggested Ronda Rose, the Utah PTAs legislative vice president.

The committee decided to solicit input from superintendents and parents before deciding how to proceed.

"We need to continue to give it some serious thought," said board member Randall Mackey of Salt Lake City.

Other items considered by the state school board Thursday were a rule governing amendments to Utah's charter school statutes, and public hearings for new elementary school math and physical education core curricula.

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* NICOLE STRICKERcan be reached at nstricker@sltrib.com or 801-257-8999.