Is a Split in the Alpine School District Inevitable?
Members of the ASD Board of Education have said that a split is inevitable — see the Lehi Free Press 9/21/21. If the split is inevitable, why is the ASD fighting so hard against the Orem feasibility study, even before its results are announced? Is the large ASD, or a proposed district split, better for Orem’s students relating to class size, computer specialists, secretaries, principals, teachers and staff? Would an Orem School District that has seven school board members, all…
Response To Provo Daily Herald Editorial on October 29th
My response to your Provo Daily Herald Editorial on October 29th is an individual response since you called me out by name. I appreciate that other CPAs are starting to get involved in the Orem school district issue. On July 12, 2022, I made an offer to Stronger Together’s Treasurer. The offer was to bring financial experts together, from both sides of the Orem school district issue, to come up with agreed upon numbers that Orem residents could rely upon….
School Bond FAQ
How are schools built? School districts can build schools three ways: 1) cash raised though property taxes raised through the capital fund, 2) issuing general obligation bonds which require voter approval, or 3) issuing lease revenue bonds which require school board, but not voter, approval. What is a bond? A bond is a debt instrument issued by school districts to pay for new school construction, renovations and buying property for future schools. In Utah, a school bond can only be…
Alpine School District Bonds 101
Alpine School District now has more than a $1Billion dollar of annual revenue and expenses in its FY2023 Budget. It can be a bit confusing and overwhelming even for professionals not familiar with fund accounting. This video and slide deck will help unravel what Alpine School District is really saying that its proposed $595M bond is a “NO TAX INCREASE” Bond! Hint–Forbes Magazine tells us what you likely already knew, but couldn’t explain, there is NO SUCH THING as a…
Alpine School District Property Tax 101
Did you get your 2022 Utah County Property Tax notice this weekend? Did your property tax increase? Alpine School District FY2023 Budget, Page 169 shows your property taxes decreasing almost every year. Can that really be true? Click the picture below to learn a little truth in taxation. Here is a link to the Utah County land records where you can see your property tax history: https://www.utahcounty.gov/landrecords/ Here is a link to the ASD FY2023 Budget, look at Page 169…
Orem City Transparency Portal
Orem is choosing to be transparent, will Alpine School District do the same? See statement below and link: In an effort to provide total transparency, the City of Orem is publicly sharing the GRAMA (Government Records Access Management Act) requests that have been sent to Alpine School District (ASD) relating to the Comprehensive Feasibility Study. We are also providing the records and responses that have been provided by ASD pursuant to each GRAMA request.
Is the ASD accountable?
This is a really great question that was asked by someone who has two children attending the Alpine School District and completed a term on the Utah State School Board in 2019. I’m sure Joel has thought about these issues more than most of us. As we consider names on the ballot for the Alpine Board of Education we should each consider these thoughts.
Are Smaller Districts Better? Are Smaller Schools Better?
While a large district, spread out over many cities, may offer shared facilities such as gifted student programs, dual-language immersion, and career and technical training, it also means the focus of the district may be elsewhere, instead of education. It also gives an immense amount of financial means and decision-making to a District, which may or may not include the voice of parents in the process. In the last few years, ASD has consolidated four Orem neighborhood schools into two…
Why did Orem choose DEC Consulting?
The Orem Mayor and members of the City Council reaffirm their intention to proceed with a full and comprehensive Orem school district feasibility study conducted by Discovery Education Consultants (Discovery), led by Dr. Paul McCarty. As a city council, we recognize what is at stake with this study. The residents of this community are entitled to reliable information and data. The City Council is committed to ensuring the study does just that. Utah State law sets forth that “The determination…