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 from and focused on Orem’s students, serve Orem students better? Could Orem better utilize the funds (property taxes, federal, state and local funds, grants, etc.) to see better test score results in Orem schools, while addressing safety and seismic issues facing our aging schools more appropriately than ASD has?

• According to press reports, Alpine School District wants to put a massive $595 million dollar bond on November 2022’s ballot — see Lehi Free Press article dated 5/11/2022. Will Orem taxpayers be required to pay a large portion of that bond, with most of the money being used to fund schools outside Orem? The answer is yes, Orem residents will be liable or responsible for 20.2%, or $120 million, of the bond for schools that other areas will enjoy.  An ASD work meeting on May 10, 2022, revealed that taxpayers residing in the ASD boundaries will see a tax increase if the bond passes.  The myth that your taxes will increase if Orem leaves ASD is false, while the opposite is true, staying will end up costing you more if this and future bonds occur.
• Does Orem pay more tax dollars into Alpine School District than we get back for our schools?
• If Orem could use all the local tax revenues it pays to Alpine, along with federal and state funds, could it fund its own schools, which would allow Orem’s students to have smaller class sizes, receive a better education, and pay teachers higher salaries? What about property tax ramifications?
• Because NO ONE KNOWS the answers to these questions, the City Council voted 7-0 to conduct a feasibility study and hired a recently formed firm whose 3 principals have a combined 100 years’ experience in education, finance, and law.
• If the results of the study show that the students, teachers and taxpayers would benefit from a split, then the Council will have the opportunity to vote WHETHER OR NOT to put that OPTION on the November 2022 ballot. If this option makes it onto the ballot, then THE RESIDENTS of OREM WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES and vote FOR or AGAINST making this change.