That's assuming the Jordan Board of Education signs off on the sale of $196 million in bonds tonight just weeks before the district split issue appears on the November ballot.

Agreeing to sell the bonds now makes the entire district responsible for repaying the remaining millions in bonds approved by voters in 2003. So splitting off from the district, as east-side voters may decide to do in November, wouldn't mean east-side taxpayers could dodge the rest of the bill. The majority of that entire bond had always been intended for west-side schools as a result of rapid growth.

But Jordan board member Kim Horiuchi, who represents east-side schools, said the potential bond sale was not timed around the split vote.

"If the thinking is Jordan district is accelerating the bonds in advance of the district split, that's not the reason at all," she said.

In November, voters in Sandy, Cottonwood Heights, Draper, Midvale, Alta and some parts of Salt Lake County will decide whether to break off to form their own school district. West Jordan residents also will vote on whether to create their own school district.

Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore said east-side leaders supported the bond sale in order to carry through with what voters agreed to four years ago.

"Our citizens voted to approve those bonds and we honor our commitment," he said. "The frustration, of course, is that promises made associated with those bonds are not being fulfilled."

A new middle school in Draper is tentatively named as one of two schools that will not be built from the 2003 bond as originally envisioned, according to Burke Jolley, Jordan's business administrator. A second is an elementary school on the west side.

Growth needs and rising construction costs are among the reasons Jordan is moving forward with the bond sale, officials say.

The fact that Jordan will be able to complete all but two of the 22 new or rebuilt schools scheduled in the 2003 bond is "quite incredible given what the inflation has been with construction," Jolley said.

Money from that bond went to a small number of east-side schools including a new elementary in Draper and the rebuild of a high school that will be relocated from Sandy to South Jordan.

Horiuchi, the board member, said all board members may not know their decision to sell the bonds will affect residents' tax bills. Her understanding was that voters were obligated to pay because of their own decision in 2003.

"We're going to have to talk about that with the board," she said.

Jordan board member Sherril Taylor, who represents Draper, said he remained passionate about securing the middle school his voters had been told to expect. He wants to keep his word to his constituents.

"If east-side voters have to pay on a bond for the next 10 years and they don't get the middle school they were promised - wouldn't you be upset?" he asked. "I would."

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* JULIA LYON can be contacted at jlyon@sltrib.com or 801-257-8748.