Alpine District votes to permanently close Sharon, Valley View elementary schools

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AMERICAN FORK — After months of swirling controversy spearheaded by a lawsuit from concerned parents and sharp criticism from state lawmakers, Alpine School District on Friday voted unanimously to close Valley View and Sharon elementary schools, effective for the 2023-24 school year.

While board members talked about many fond memories associated with the two schools, they also expressed that the failure of a proposed $595 million bond for the district has led to some tough decisions.

"The purpose for closing Sharon is to acknowledge that we do have aging buildings in our district that we are trying to address as aggressively as we can and with the failure of the bond, this is not just a make-do, but a good option for these children," board member Ada Wilson said during Friday's meeting.

Wilson added that the bottom line for the district is academic performance and Sharon Elementary, 525 N. 400 East in Orem, had reached the point where its low enrollment was "limiting opportunities and making it impossible to staff in a way that's in any way equitable."

Keeping the school open, she said, would cost two times more per student than the average student across the rest of the district.

As for Valley View Elementary, 941 E. Orchard Drive in Pleasant Grove, board member Mark Clement said that closure will move students to a school where they will "have many more resources and a larger group of parents to make their PTA and community council groups stronger."

Timeline

During the district's Nov. 29 board meeting, after the proposed $595 million bond failed, the board requested a districtwide boundary study to explore possibilities around restructuring or consolidating boundaries and evaluating school buildings for potential closure, Alpine School District spokesman David Stephenson said.

In early December, the district sent a letter to parents notifying them that since the proposed bond failed, the district would be initiating a boundary study that could result in potential closures.

On March 1, the district sent an email to parents and city mayors, councils and administrators, notifying them that the five elementary schools were being considered for closure and/or boundary adjustments and starting the 120-day notice period prior to the closure of any schools, as required by Utah law.

However, the lawsuit filed by a group of parents claims that at a Feb. 28 board meeting, the board "voted to close Sharon, Windsor, Valley View, Lindon and Lehi elementary schools and implement the associated boundary and program changes to be effective in the '23-24 school year."

Seemingly, a bulk of the disagreement between the plaintiffs and the district can be traced to the Feb. 28 board meeting, when board member Joylin Lincoln made a motion "that the board of education direct staff to begin a formal process, in accordance with state statutory requirements, of closing Sharon, Windsor, Valley View, Lindon and Lehi elementary schools and implement the associated boundary and program changes to be effective in the '23-24 school year."

The motion passed, with board member Sarah Beeson casting the lone opposing vote.

The March 1 email sent out by the district the day after the Feb. 28 board meeting states that the motion passed was "to move various components of the General Boundary Study to a FORMAL STUDY."

Essentially, the district said the vote wasn't a final nail in the coffin of the five schools, but instead, a vote to move into the formal study process — denoted by the March 1 email specifically notifying parents who could be impacted

Moving forward

Students from Sharon Elementary will merge with Cascade Elementary. Since Sharon was classified as a Title I school, Cascade will become a Title I school for the 2023-24 school year following the merger.

Additionally, students from Valley View Elementary will move to Central Elementary.

To accommodate the influx of students, about 60 students from Cascade will move to Centennial Elementary and some students from Central will move to Grovecrest Elementary, Stephenson said.

While the district didn't vote on the future of Windsor, Lindon and Lehi elementary schools, they are all still being studied for closure for the 2024-25 school year.

"As we go forward with some of these decisions, I get that they're not popular, right?" board member Stacy Bateman said. "We have a tough budget this year and we're trying to meet everybody's needs."