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AMERICAN FORK — The consultants tasked with studying a potential reconfiguration of Utah's largest school district, Alpine, recently presented options for splitting the district into two or three separate districts, or keeping the district intact.
During the Alpine School District Board of Education meeting on Feb. 27, MGT Consulting — a Florida company contracted by the district's school board to conduct a feasibility study — first discussed the option of keeping the district together.
"There were a lot of folks that we spoke to that said 'I'm happy with the district,'" said Lance Richards, educational performance manager with MGT.
"It's a viable option," Richards said of not separating the district, adding that maintaining a single district would carry a budget surplus of nearly $13 million.
The consultant did not present that option in depth, however, and instead spent the bulk of the presentation discussing options for splitting the district.
A split of some kind has been discussed off and on for the past 20 years, with board members recently describing "tension" in the growing district. The topic has caused controversy within the community in recent years, with a failed proposition in Orem last year seeking to separate the city from the district. Some officials contend the district needs to separate to better serve the needs of different growing cities.
Two-district option
MGT presented two options that would split Alpine into separate east and west districts, with the difference between the two being where Lehi lands.
One option would have an east district with Orem, Vineyard, Lindon, Pleasant Grove, Alpine, Cedar Hills, Highland and American Fork. The west district would include Cedar Fort, Fairfield, Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs and Lehi.
The second option would be the same as the first, except Lehi would be placed in the east district, making it significantly larger than its western neighbor.
Richards said that both options, when comparing taxable value, revenue and expenses based on 2023 finances, would have the east district in a deficit, though the deficit would be lower if Lehi was in the east district.
Three-district option
The other option would split Alpine School District into three separate east, central and west districts, with three possible configurations.
The east district would be comprised of Orem, Vineyard, Lindon and Pleasant Grove. The central district would include Lehi, Alpine, American Fork, Highland and Cedar Hills. Cedar Fort, Fairfield, Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs would make up the west district.
The second and third options would include that same group of cities in a west district. But the second option would place Pleasant Grove in the central district, with Orem, Vineyard and Lindon being in their own district. The third and final option would create a Lehi-only district with Alpine, Highland, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Orem, Vineyard, Lindon and Pleasant Grove being placed into a single district.
In all three of these options, the east district would be operating in a deficit, though it would be relatively small with the first two options. Conversely, the third option would have the east in a deficit similar to what it would face in a two-district split.
From November 2023 to January 2024, MGT conducted meetings with 80 stakeholders out of 136 who were contacted to provide input and help the company determine some key considerations in reconfiguration.
What's next?
This update comes after the district's Board of Education in May 2023 voted unanimously to begin studying the reconfiguration of the school district.
MGT is set to host three separate public meetings next week to present the options to the community and gather feedback. Information on the dates, times and locations for these meetings can be found here.
Speaking to the board, Richards emphasized the importance of considering the needs of students and teachers when considering a split, saying that an ill-executed split could harm student outcomes and lead to losing teachers.
"When you move forward in reconfiguration, you should be more concerned about what you do for the students that have the greatest need to make sure that they don't get lost in the shuffle," Richards said.
A recommendation regarding reconfiguration could be made to the board as early as April.
