The Alpine School District is proposing closing two elementary schools in Orem as part of potential consolidation plans.

The district made the proposal public Wednesday afternoon in an infographic detailing the proposal. While schools on the district’s west side have seen booming growth, Orem schools have seen declining enrollment in recent years.

The proposal would have Geneva Elementary School students split up and go to Suncrest and Bonneville elementary schools beginning in the 2018-19 school year. At that time, Geneva Elementary School has a projected enrollment of 359 students. About 230 students would be fed into Suncrest Elementary School and Bonneville Elementary School would receive 125 students. The Geneva Elementary School property would be kept for potential future use.

Cascade Elementary School students would use the Geneva Elementary School building while Cascade Elementary School is demolished and rebuilt during the 2018-19 school year.

The proposal would also close Hillcrest Elementary School and have its projected 335 students go to the nearby Scera Park Elementary School. For the 2019-20 school year, Scera Park Elementary School students would use the Geneva Elementary School building while Scera Park Elementary School is rebuilt. In August 2020, both Scera Park and Hillcrest students would move into the new Scera Park Elementary School.

The Hillcrest Elementary School property would be potentially sold, according to the proposal.

The district announced this summer it would be holding meetings on potential boundary adjustments in the fall.

Contracted employees are not expected to be let go due to the consolidations, and class sizes are not expected to substantially change. Schools opening throughout the district in the next few years are expected to absorb some employees from the schools that may be closed.

While the rebuild of Cascade Elementary School is currently included in the district’s most recent bond, the expected $16 million it would cost to rebuild Scera Park Elementary School hasn’t been allocated by the Board of Education yet. Assistant Superintendent John Patten said some of those funds could come from a sale of the Hillcrest Elementary School building.

Patten said the decision to consolidate schools came after the district looked at declining enrollment patterns in those aging buildings and looked at the proximity those elementary schools had to other schools.

The district could have rebuilt those smaller schools, or made the school larger to fit more students without much difference in cost.

A vote about adjusting boundaries for Orem elementary schools was originally expected at the beginning of next year. Patten said that vote has been split, with a vote on the consolidations by the Board of Education coming as soon as Oct. 10. Other boundary adjustment votes are still expected in the winter.

The timeline shift came after the district, which is used to opening schools, not closing them, realized it would need more time to work out the logistics of combing schools.

Dozens of parents packed the school board meeting Tuesday evening to advocate for keeping Hillcrest Elementary School open after the community heard rumors the school would be closed and sold. At the time, the proposal had yet to be released.

Patten said rumors that the district received an offer “it couldn’t refuse” to sell Hillcrest Elementary School is not true.

“Contrary to what some people might assume, by the timing of the release of information, how some of the information got out initially, that the board is very closed to feedback and has made a decision that will be carried through no matter what, and that is not true,” Patten said. “The Board of Education values input and collaborating with communities. They understand that these decisions impact families and I would just say that in the dialogue that will take place in the coming weeks, that our schools could definitely be strengthened by a very objective look at how educational opportunities for children can be improved and money better spent on educating those children through this consolidation proposal.”

Feedback meetings on the proposal will be held Monday and Wednesday at the five affected elementary schools. Feedback can also be offered online at alpineschools.org/oremconsolidation after 4 p.m. Monday.