District Split Links: RESOURCES Q&A OPINIONS ADVOCACY
The regular General Election to be held on November 8, 2022, will include the following ballot proposition:
Shall a new Orem school district be created with boundaries
contiguous with (the same as) the boundaries of the City of Orem?
In a special meeting held September 7, 2022, the Timpanogos Council PTA approved the motion to oppose Proposition 2.
We hope to be able to provide information to help our members make an informed decision about splitting Orem from the Alpine School District. You can donate to our efforts here. All donated money will be used for flyers, yard signs, Spanish information meetings, and other advocacy efforts. Any money remaining will be divided among the Orem PTA councils to support local PTA's after the vote.
2/7/2022 - Discovery Education Consultants registers as a company in the state of Utah
2/8/2022 - Orem City Council votes to pursue a feasibility study
Stream of 2/8/22 City Council meeting
4/4/2022 - Discovery Education Consultants chosen to conduct the feasibility study
DEC Consulting Services website
4/4/22 Daily Herald article about the announcement
4/11/22 Daily Herald article about citizen concerns with the company chosen
4/11/22 City Council press release in response to citizen concerns about DEC
7/12/2022 - DEC (previously Discovery Education Consultants) presents their findings
Stream of 7/12/22 City Council Meeting
DEC Feasibility study results
7/13/2022 to 7/28/2022 - 3 public meetings held to explain the study results to the public
Stream of 7/13/22 meeting with question & answer
Stream of 7/19/2022 meeting with question & answer
Stream of 7/28/2022 meeting with question & answer
8/2/2022 - Orem City Council votes to put the formation of an Orem District on the ballot
Stream of 8/2/2022 City Council Meeting
9/8/2022 - After conducting a membership survey, Timpanogos Council PTA votes to oppose Orem Proposition 2
Press release of the motion to oppose Orem Proposition 2
11/8/2022 - Election Day, Orem city residents will make the final decision about whether to form an Orem City School District!
Alpine District is the largest in the state.
There would be more local representation in a smaller district. All 7 of our board members would represent Orem rather than the 2 representing Orem in the Alpine School District.
The money Orem pays into ASD bonds is not all used for Orem schools (some of it goes to build & care for schools in other cities within the district).
Separating Orem from the district would have an impact on students from Vineyard and Lindon as school boundaries are adjusted. Many of the Orem schools on the border would drop in enrollment because students living in these other cities would be rezoned to Alpine District schools. With dropping enrollment in those schools, we may be forced to close and consolidate more schools.
Many teachers have indicated they would prefer to stay with a district they have experience with, a district that has a trusted history and provides fantastic collaboration opportunities.
Alpine District offers more specialty programs than a smaller district could (Language immersions, preschools, variety of high school and junior high electives, gifted programs, etc.).
A separate district would increase costs per student (and therefore taxes).
An Orem district is less likely to succeed in having a bond pass to pay for capital needs (because it would raise taxes more than an ASD bond).
There are many concerns about the education of special needs students in a new district without existing district resources. Those concerns are largely ignored by the DEC study.
If you would like to make suggestions about the information included here, please don't hesitate to email us at TimpanogosCouncilPTA@gmail.com.