Education
Alpine School District reviews six options for split after study
An Alpine School District (ASD) split has been discussed for decades and the reality is closer than ever before. On Tuesday night, MGT Education, a Florida-based consulting firm, presented six district split options to the ASD Board of Education.
“We’ve been working with them (MGT) since last summer and we appreciate the collaborative effort,” said Superintendent Shane Farnsworth.
Lance Richards, a former Florida School District Superintendent and manager of MGT, presented the study results.
First, MGT presented key considerations from stakeholder engagement responses that were gathered from surveys in January.
Key considerations included:
– Financial impact
– Challenges
– Streamlined administrative processes
– Asset allocation
– Overcrowding
– Neighborhood centralized schools
– Funding future needs
– Employee concerns
– Representation and local control
– Special needs students
Next, the study noted the following funding revenues were considered in the study and split proposals; local (property tax) 23.5%, state (income tax/WPU) 64.6%, federal (programs) 9.3% and other 2.4%. These funding mechanisms follow each student.
The six split options are:
Option One
No split and the district stays whole.
Option Two
East: Orem, Vineyard, Lindon, Pleasant Grove, Alpine, Cedar Hills, Highland, American Fork
West: Lehi, Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Cedar Fort
Option Three
East: Orem, Vineyard, Lindon, Pleasant Grove, Alpine, Cedar Hills, Highland, American Fork, Lehi
West: Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Cedar Fort
Option Four
East: Orem, Vineyard, Lindon, Pleasant Grove
Central: Lehi, Alpine, Highland, American Fork, Cedar Hills
West: Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Cedar Fort
Option Five
East: Orem, Vineyard, Lindon
Central: Lehi, Pleasant Grove, Alpine, Highland, American Fork, Cedar Hills
West: Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Cedar Fort
Option Six
East: Alpine, Highland, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Orem, Vineyard, Lindon, Pleasant Grove
Central: Lehi
West: Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Cedar Fort
MGT will return to Utah March 12-14 to conduct public open houses which will include additional information, as well as obtain feedback surveys from patrons which will be gathered at each public event.
Currently, state code requires the County Commission to send the split to the General Election ballot for voters to decide. There are potential changes to that code. This week the State Legislature is considering a bill which would allow the ASD Board to send its preferred split to the ballot.
