By a 2-to-1 vote Tuesday, the Utah County Commission rejected putting the issue on the November ballot.

"This has become too divisive," said Commissioner Gary Herbert, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. "That's not healthy for us as a community."

Dissenting Commissioner Jerry Grover argued the people - not commissioners - should be the ultimate arbiters of whether to divide the northern Utah County school district and to form a new Pioneer School District.

"I'm surprised that people would expect dividing a school district not to be divisive," said Grover.

Certainly, the commissioners' decision was not surprising. It comes after months of vigorous and sometimes bitter debate. The majority of residents opposed to dividing the district and its 51,000 students.

An ad hoc committee appointed by the county to study the issue also advised against it after a Brigham Young University study estimated the split would increase property taxes 40 percent by 2010 for schools in a Pioneer District. The new district would have included Lehi, Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain.

Wayne Carlton, a former Lehi councilman, says the commissioners made the right decision. If the district was divided, he argued, businesses would bolt the county instead of paying higher taxes.

"They would jump right over into Salt Lake County," he said. "It also would require us to fund a new school district with a [separate] layer of administration offices and services. That money is better spent on students."

Orem resident Fiona Shaw also opposed the split but agreed with Grover that voters should decide the issue at the ballot box.

"Now we'll never know how people living within in the district feel about this," she said.

Boosters of a Pioneer District argue a smaller district would reduce classroom sizes and give parents more local control over the schools their children attend.

While siding with Herbert, Commissioner Steve White took issue with his colleague's remarks about the debate's divisiveness.

"Government is not intended to be the high council or the bishopric," said White, making references to LDS Church governing authorities. He noted that vigorous debate is healthy to the democratic process.

While the commission's vote puts the issue to rest, Grover says the issue over splitting the district may come up again sooner than later.

He said an Orem group already has launched a petition drive to separate schools in that city from the Alpine School District.

"This is not going to go away," he predicted.

meddington@sltrib.com