City leaders in Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Draper, Highland and Lehi decided to let voters have the final say on whether to break off from the Alpine School District and create their own district. For now, it’s called the Central School District.
Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs leaders took similar action. They too voted to let residents decide if their communities should leave Alpine and create a new district with the towns of Fairfield and Cedar Fort.
Every vote was unanimous.
Before they made their decisions, the two groups of communities created separate interlocal agreements and held public hearings.
Alpine School District is the state’s largest and splitting it up has been talked about for years. The most recent iteration of the conversation was in 2022 when Orem tried to leave, but voters rejected the proposal.
Earlier this year, a consulting firm hired by Alpine presented potential options to divvy up the district.
Originally, the district was leading the conversation and going to put it before voters. Things, however, grew complicated when cities banded together to pursue their own districts. State lawmakers stepped in during a special legislative session to prevent local school boards from having the power to split up a district.
Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson told KUER some procedural steps still need to be taken before the proposals formally reach the November ballot, but this was the last main hurdle.
Lehi City Council member Heather Newall said all they did was decide to put the question on the ballot. Now, citizens will have the opportunity to decide what is best for their families.
If a majority of voters in Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Draper, Highland and Lehi vote ‘yes,’ the Central School District would be created.
If a majority of voters in Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs vote ‘yes,’ they would also create a district with the towns of Cedar Fort and Fairfield. However, Pleasant Grove, Orem, Lindon and Vineyard, which did not create any interlocal agreements, would be left out. Still, if the two other groups vote to split, those communities would by default have to create a district and the Alpine School District would be split into thirds.
If only one of the northern or western group of cities votes to split, the Alpine School District would still be split in half.
According to a timeline prepared by the proposed Central School District, if voters do split the district, a new school board would be elected in 2025 and they would start operations in July 2027.
