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This map, published on Feb. 28, 2023, shows potential elementary school boundaries for the Lehi area.

Courtesy Alpine School District

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This map, published on Feb. 28, 2023, shows potential elementary school boundaries for the Lindon and Orem areas.

Courtesy Alpine School District

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This map, published on Feb. 28, 2023, shows a second set of potential elementary school boundaries for the Lindon and Orem areas.

Courtesy Alpine School District

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This map, published on Feb. 28, 2023, shows potential elementary school boundaries for the Pleasant Grove and Lindon areas.

Courtesy Alpine School District

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This map, published on Feb. 28, 2023, shows a second set of potential elementary school boundaries for the Pleasant Grove and Lindon areas.

Courtesy Alpine School District

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When the November 2022 bond proposal failed, Alpine School District was left without funds to build a handful of new schools in the district to accommodate growth. With the growth still coming, the district is looking at new ways forward.

At the board meeting on Feb. 28, the Alpine School District Board of Education passed a motion to move several items from the general boundary study to a formal study, meaning those changes could be implemented in time for the start of the 2023-2024 school year, according to the district’s website.

Possible changes include new schools being built, adjusting school boundaries, merging student populations from two or more schools and the closure of older school buildings.

School building closures were proposed for Lehi, Valley View, Lindon, Windsor and Sharon elementary schools.

“With the November bond not passing, the board has carefully studied boundaries and other ways to address growth in parts of the district, as well as address aging buildings with seismic concerns. These five schools have declining enrollments and seismic concerns including unreinforced masonry,” said David Stephenson, executive director of external relations and communications. “With neighboring schools having empty classrooms, the board is carefully considering the safety of students and studying ways to enhance the educational experience for these students in newer buildings.”

The school board has proposed several options for potential boundary mergers. One would combine the current North Point and Meadow boundaries into Lehi, another considers splitting the Central boundary into two sections — the Valley View boundary and a new Central boundary that would include part of the current Grovecrest area.

Students from the Lindon boundary could be put into the Rocky Mountain and Central boundaries while the new Northridge boundary could include Windsor by expanding into some of the Bonneville boundary. Part of the Orchard boundary could be added to the current Windsor boundary.

The current Sharon boundary would be distributed into the Cascade and Foothill boundaries. The future Aspen boundary could include parts of the current Northridge, Bonneville, Rocky Mountain and Lindon boundaries.

New boundaries may be drawn for the North Point, River Rock, Meadow, Snow Springs, Central, Grovecrest, Rocky Mountain, Cascade, Orchard, Foothill, Northridge, Bonneville, and Centennial boundaries.

One goal of merging schools would be creating an even ratio of students to teachers in every program. When there are not enough students or teachers in a program, it limits learning opportunities.

“Regardless of what zip code a child lives in, we want to make sure that every child in Alpine has equitable access to strong academic programs,” board member Julie King said.

A merger is also being considered for putting the four dual language immersion programs at Aspen, Rocky Mountain, Windsor and Orchard into one central location.

“None of this is easy. If there were easy options we would have done them already. From 2020 on, the board has listened to the public and tried to act accordingly. I’m genuinely sorry that we have to do these things. The board and District Leadership are all united in our desire for good outcomes for everyone,” board member Stacy Bateman wrote on Facebook.

In replying to a commenter, Bateman wrote that she and fellow board member Joylin Lincoln are working on alternative boundary suggestions.

The school board will hold three open house meetings for the community to share their input on proposed boundary changes. All meetings will take place from 5:30-6:30 p.m. The meeting for the Pleasant Grove and Lindon areas will be held on March 22 at Pleasant Grove High School.

The meeting for the Orem area will be held the following week on March 29 at Timpanogos High School and the final meeting, which will be for the Lehi area, will be held on March 30 at Lehi High School.

Potential boundary changes will be discussed at the March 14, March 28 and April 18 board meetings.

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