One of the questions I get asked most often is what will a split cost?  Anyone who is giving you a number or saying there will be x amount of a tax increase is not being truthful.  So many of those factors are dependent on future school board decisions.  But let’s break it down as to what those factors are.  Please be aware that these are the dynamics I see and other people may have a different perspective.  I am going to break this down and create a post for each potential area, so if you end up reading all three, you are going to see some information repeated.

Before I get into the costs for new districts, I want to ask a question-what is the cost of keeping the district together?  I feel that is not a question we ever talk about.  Whether we split or not, taxes are going to go up-that is the way the certified tax rate works.  We just raised taxes $100 a year.  So if people start saying your taxes are going to go up 20%, ask them how much their taxes will go up if we stay together.  We can’t really answer that question.  So if we seem ok with not knowing how much taxes will go up now, why can we become fixated on unknowns in a split?  Taxes are going to go up.  The question is where do you want your taxes to go?

 In addition to the cost in financials, I would also argue that there is a cost to people.  There is a cost to students, staff, and community when schools are closed.  There is a cost to people when boundaries are changed multiple times.  There is a cost to people when a high school is crammed with over 3,000 students.  And there will be costs to people in a district split-there is a sense of anxiety for some and excitement for others when a district split is discussed. There will be a cost to people. What costs do we want to pay?

On to my thoughts about the central area, meaning Lehi, American Fork, Highland, Alpine, Cedar Hills, and the Utah County portion of Draper..  Let’s talk about infrastructure first.  What does Central have and what do they need?  Central is in the strongest position not only for infrastructure, but for student enrollment and tax base.  American Fork boasts the district office, transportation center with service bays, a special needs schools, the ALC and PDC as well as the print shop which is a money maker.  I do not believe they have a data center, so that is something they will need to invest in.  Their costs to get started are minimal.

The biggest challenge that I think the Central area will face is pumping the brakes.  They will be strong, but need to be cautious not to overspend.  Central owns property in Cold Springs Ranch as well as off 2100 and property off of Pioneer.  Central still has some student enrollment growth, specifically in Lehi.  They will need to be careful not to overbuild.  They also have capital needs, including making decisions about Lehi Elementary.  They need to address the third phase of the AF High rebuild as well as look at older schools like Alpine Elementary.  They will also need to decide what happens moving forward and look at potential renovations with Lehi Junior and AF Junior.  They will have to seriously look at dynamics like the boundaries between Mountain Ridge and AF Jr.  

Lehi still has significant projected growth to 2050 and the other cities in Central will see some growth, but they need to be cautious as to how that population is shifting as we are seeing smaller families and a decline in the birth rate.  I am excited to see what would happen with the property off of 2100 as the idea of a tech school has been talked about for years.  If they can refrain from overextending themselves so that when they start to see some declines in student enrollment they are not faced with financial gaps, they are in a really strong position.  They also need to be mindful of making sure they look for ideas like flex space as student enrollment changes can be anticipated.  You can find some great data here:

https://gardner.utah.edu/blog/blog-the-future-of-utahs-school-and-college-age-population/

The reality is that a 3 way configuration is feasible-that has been stated again and again through various feasibility studies.  Now it will be up to voters to decide if that is the path they want to take.

Julie King
Alpine School District Board Member