Sen. Grover proposes bill to help with potential split from Alpine School District

SALT LAKE CITY — Over a month ago, Orem City Council voted to put a decision in front of their voters, meaning come November, Orem residents will vote whether to split from Alpine School District.

A Utah state senator is pushing to clarify what it would mean for families and the community if the district does part ways. 

Calling it a “very local decision,” Sen. Keith Grover said as their senator, he wants to take part by opening a bill to ensure certain questions are addressed if the school district were to split off.

If Orem and Alpine split off district wise, what happens from there?

That’s one of the big questions a Utah state senator is seeking to answer with his bill.

We’re live at noon to break down what it means for students who may wonder which district they’d fall into.@KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/e1XxMsSLKW

— Karah Brackin (@KB_ON_TV) September 21, 2022

In addition to looking into property taxes, one of the things this bill aims to do is make sure that schools are able to still take in students who may or may not live in the school boundaries.

That is, a school boundary may be drawn in a way it divides a high school. 

Through this bill, it clears up and clarifies the language that students who live where they do now can still attend Orem if the district parts ways. 

“We do not want to have any type of distribution to their education. That should be very, very sequenced. This is mostly a bureaucratic, a moving of tax monies around, make sure that those schools are funded so those students continue to receive the good education they’re getting,” Grover said.

Representation from the city of Orem, including the mayor and city council, also weighed in. 

Grover also noted this is an issue the state has not seen the last of as it could happen in any city in the state, especially with the growth Utah is seeing. 

“I think this will be something in the next two, three, four, five years. I mean, Utah is really growing, and districts that used to be small, like Alpine used to be quite small, and then it gets bigger and bigger. Then, you have to ask the question, ‘At what point do we lose representation via school board members via 60, 70, 80,000 students?’” Grover said.

Orem residents will be the only ones who can vote on this issue come November.

If voters do vote for a district split, this bill will then move forward. 

If not, it will not move forward because there will not be a district split. 

We’ve also reached out to Alpine School District for comment, but have not yet heard back.