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AMERICAN FORK — The six cities that formed an interlocal agreement in July to study a split from the Alpine School District on Tuesday unanimously voted to place the split on the ballot come November, giving residents the opportunity to decide whether their cities will split from the state's largest district.
The proposal would see the cities of Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Draper, Highland and Lehi form their own district after a rare, joint public meeting was held in June between the aforementioned city councils.
The groups heard the results of a feasibility study and kicked off a 45-day public comment period for the creation of a new district, which is tentatively being called the Central School District, though that is subject to change.
Across the six city council meetings held Tuesday, one prevailing sentiment was echoed by the council members: Residents want the chance to vote on the split.
"I'm glad that we have involved the public, chiefly because we've heard comments from people about how the City Council isn't elected to oversee education. That's for the school board representatives," Lehi City Councilwoman Paige Albrecht said. "So I think it's only right and appropriate that this go to a ballot option so that the public does have a chance to have that vote and that input on who does represent them and their education needs."
Lehi Mayor Mark Johnson encouraged residents to heavily study the pros and cons of a split.
"I think this is probably going to have a bigger impact on your home and your family than some of the other elections that are out there," Johnson said.
American Fork City Councilwoman Staci Carroll spoke about the matter in a similar manner as Albrecht and Johnson.
"There are very good reasons to spilt into a Central School District, and there are very good reasons not to split. At this point, I encourage residents to consider the reasons on both sides and make a decision for themselves on what they think is best," Carroll said.
The feasibility study for the proposed Central School District concluded that the creation of the district would be a viable opportunity that could "provide less of a future property tax burden in these communities if they separated from the Alpine School District," according to a release from the city of Lehi.
For Draper, the new district would serve the portion of its residents living in Utah County — not impacting Draper residents in the Canyons School District or the Jordan School District.
Another interlocal agreement proposal would see Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Cedar Fort and Fairfield forming a third district.
That would still leave four cities within Alpine School District — Orem, Vineyard, Lindon and Pleasant Grove — on the outside looking in, as at this point, they have not entered into an agreement. If they don't form an agreement, and the other two plans pass, the four cities will become a reorganized district by default.
Speaking at a July Highland City Council meeting, Wendy Hart, who served on the Alpine School District board from 2011 to 2018, voiced her support for the split.
"At some point, it was obvious that we would get so large that we would need to split and the main reason for that is because of local control. The district has different areas of need," Hart said, adding a split would allow individual areas to better address their unique needs. "The west has outstanding growth and the south has a lot of needs with Title I and refurbishing of buildings and things like that."
With a student population exceeding 84,000 students, Alpine School District is the largest district in Utah and it's growing at a rapid pace. Even after a potential split, the new Central School District would still be one of the largest in the state.
Should voters approve its creation on Nov. 5, 2024, candidates would run for a seat on the new school board and voters would get to decide in November 2025 who to elect. The newly elected board members would take office in January 2026 and work would then commence to divide the existing resources between the Alpine School District and the Central School District, with the new board starting operations in July 2027.
