On Thursday at 5:30 p.m., the City Council will hold a special meeting to decide whether to commission a feasibility study on a South Jordan school district. The meeting will be held at City Hall, 1600 W. Towne Center Drive (about 10600 South).

There is not enough time to get a split proposal on the Nov. 6 ballot, but South Jordan could try to piggyback onto Utah's presidential primary election in February, said City Manager Rick Horst.

"If the east side secedes and if West Jordan secedes, in my opinion, it becomes very likely we will," he said.

That means Riverton, Herriman, Bluffdale and some unincorporated areas could be the only ones left in a Jordan School District if the east side, West Jordan and South Jordan all decided to ditch the state's largest district.

South Jordan, with an estimated 50,100 residents, only recently became eligible to forge its own district. At a special session last month, the Legislature lowered the population threshold from 65,000 to 50,000.

The city, as recently as last month, was considering a lawsuit with other west-siders to stop an east-side split.

Now that proposal is "not looking too promising," said South Jordan Mayor Kent Money.

Besides wanting a smaller district and better education for kids, Money said a citywide school district would mean an opportunity to "combine resources" in spending taxpayer dollars.

A feasibility study would take up to three months to complete, Horst said, and cost close to $40,000.

rwinters@sltrib.com