But today, tiny Alta - where barely a hundred residents took part in the past municipal election - could scuttle the whole thing if one Town Council member votes against the ballot proposal.

That's because if the Alta council opts out and sticks with Jordan, the town would become an illegal geographic island in the proposed new district.

Still, Alta Mayor Tom Pollard, who has a vote on the Town Council, says his sister cities can relax: He expects the council to put the issue before voters. Because two members are on vacation, all three who remain must say yes for the measure to pass.

"All of the council members that I've spoken with . . . want to see the voters decide," Pollard said Wednesday. Alta ruining plans for a new district is "not going to happen."

But both his voting colleagues expressed doubts Wednesday.

"I don't know which way I'm going to vote," Councilman Dave Richards said. "I lean back and forth hourly."

The law that allows district splits has "a lot of flaws," Richards added. "I also do think people should have the opportunity to vote and consider their child's education."

Fellow Councilman Paul Moxley worries that the law governing creation of new districts needs tweaking but, in general, he favors letting voters decide. So, on Wednesday, he was "reflecting" on how he will vote today.

Holding the fate of Utah's largest school district is an unusual position of power for the resort town of 365 people. Now, any of these three Alta officials essentially could veto a plan that would determine public-education governance for an area of nearly 200,000 people.

If the issue gets on the ballot, Alta's voice would be drastically muted. Its residents' votes will be lumped in with the thousands coming from bigger cities.

Proponents of forming a smaller, east-side district argue it would give residents a bigger voice in school board decisions and allow more property taxes to be invested in refurbishing old schools.

Opponents say the Jordan District is functioning fine and warn that west-siders, who don't get to vote, are being left behind with staggering growth and the bill for expensive new schools.

For Alta, the issue is whether the town's one-room schoolhouse will stay open. The satellite campus of Sandy's Granite Elementary has one teacher for 18 students in grades K-8.

Jordan Superintendent Barry Newbold has pledged his support to keeping the Alta school, which is tucked in the Goldminer's Daughter Lodge. A yet-to-be created district presents an unknown.

"It took us a long time to get the school," Moxley said. "Part of having the status quo is just that. I feel an obligation to do the right thing for Alta - period."

Pollard said his view on the wisdom of an east-side district has morphed the past few months.

"At first, I was very against it. There's nothing wrong with what the Jordan School District is doing today," the mayor said. "But if their [growth] projections come through [to] a 120,000-student district - at that point - I think we've got some issues."

So, with much bigger cities waiting on Alta's decision, are Pollard's council colleagues sweating their votes?

"I don't feel undue pressure," Richards said. "Quite frankly, if we don't agree with [the other east-side cities], people will rewrite the laws to go around it."

rwinters@sltrib.com