Money and authority, or the lack thereof, were two reasons the Lindon City Council voted to join Orem in a study of whether it makes sense to secede from the Alpine School District.

Councilman Bruce Carpenter repeatedly emphasized that he wasn't advocating splitting from the Alpine School District, nor did he believe the city should take that position. But he listed a number of reasons why he thought Orem's next-door neighbor to the north needed to look at what options were out there. The feasibility study is a required step in the state law to form a new school district.

"We are frequently speaking of local control, and school boards are often the epitome of local control," he said, as other council members nodded in agreement.

He was careful not to point fingers at the school district for any perceived problems, saying instead that a number of Lindon residents have told him they feel the school board is unresponsive to their issues. Although Carpenter did raise Investigations Math -- the math program taught in Alpine's elementary schools -- as a major point of contention, it certainly isn't the only one, he said.

The other concern Tuesday night was money. With a major bond on the ballot in November and Lindon not growing as quickly as cities in the north end of Utah County, council members worried their residents would be unfairly saddled with the costs of an expanding district but without the advantages of new or remodeled buildings.

"As is always the case in these situations, citizens who have been here a long time end up subsidizing new schools, usually that they do not benefit from," Carpenter said.

Councilman Eric Anthony attributed the sudden popularity of the idea to years of pent-up frustration at difficulties within the huge Alpine School District, which encompasses all of Utah County, from Orem north to the Salt Lake County line and serves about 70,000 students. The number of people who have contacted him in favor of the idea is indicative of that, he said.

"On the other hand, most of the citizens who contacted me also had already drawn their own conclusions that they wanted to be part of a new school district," he said. "I think it's something that's been going on for quite a while."

That kind of decision-making is a luxury the city officials don't have, he warned, which is why they need to withhold all judgments until the feasibility study is completed. The residents may be able to jump ahead of the study; the council cannot.

"I think adding facts to a process is critical so we're not simply driven by emotional bias that can come and go depending on the flavor of the month," he said. "These facts will really help us to make a sound decision that will impact us for 30 to 40 years, maybe."

Lindon is the first city to formally get on board with Orem. Orem's council voted last week to do the feasibility study, two weeks after residents filled the council chambers asking the city to consider a law passed in the 2006 legislative session allowing cities to create school districts, not just counties as previously allowed.

Cities or groups of cities with a population of at least 65,000 have to do a feasibility study and then put the question to voters to break away from a school district. According to the Associated Press, some officials say the law has created more questions than solutions so far. No one is sure how assets would be divided in the event of a successful breakaway or how to ensure districts aren't elitist or creating islands. The legislature might address those issues in the 2007 session.

Heidi Toth can be reached at 344-2543 or htoth@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.