In my capacity, I have served as Student Council advisor, the literary journal advisor, an announcer at the girls’ basketball games for the last 15 years without missing a single game, and running the clock at the boys’ games. On top of that, I have served on advisory committees, been a proud member of the PTA, weathered COVID and the unexpected loss of a spouse, marriage to a new wife, and many other joys and sorrows with my students. Every day, at the end of every period, I tell my students at the bell, “I love you. You are my favorite. Please make good choices.” They know I mean every word of it, and that love has been reciprocated in the many letters, cards, emails, and the hundreds of graduation announcements, wedding announcements, etc. that cover the walls of my classroom. This kind of relationship does not come suddenly, but with time, patience and trust.

Here’s the funny thing: I’m not alone in this. There are countless teachers throughout Alpine School District who will tell you the very same things I have listed above. Why? Because of what their training has equipped them with: a passion for what they do, and even more importantly WHO they do it for.

The vast amount of training I have received throughout my career via the Alpine School District, coupled with the outstanding collaborative efforts of not only my peers at OHS but with other nearby schools, has equipped me with the tools, empathy, passion and drive required to keep at this job day after day. I am paid in intangibles that far outweigh the already generous compensation I receive as an Alpine employee.

Those who are pushing Proposition 2 on this city fail to understand that we teachers do not believe that their pie-in-the-sky promises will EVER come to pass, let alone without costing us all a LOT more. Additionally, they have completely ignored those intangibles that will take years to replace, if that is even possible.

So, I ask, “Why do you think over 91% of teachers surveyed have stated that they will leave Orem schools if Prop 2 passes?” That answer is simple. It comes down to trust, or the lack thereof, we have for those trying to force this sudden change. We have heard from city leaders and their families about how teachers are evil, in person and in many, many online posts. Why would we think those behaviors would change in a single-city district? Motives stemming from old personal grudges coupled with political aspirations are what is fueling this issue. It is inexcusable to power grab and ask the taxpayers and their children to pay the price in the end.

If Prop 2 succeeds, that is who will be left holding the bag. Taxpayers who will have to carry the burden when construction and start-up costs begin to add up with a new Orem-only school district. Conservative estimates put that in the tens of millions of extra tax dollars, a significant amount for Orem families working hard to make ends meet. Wealthy special interests, representing a very small minority, are flooding the city with fear and the offer of free dinners to win over citizens of Orem. Where will those dinners and donations be when this is over if they have their way and we are made to foot the bill? Out of the country, and out of the city, living in other places as they do now. As programs for the gifted, as well as students with special needs see their programs disappear, experienced teachers will be forced to go elsewhere to protect their families’ financial stability.

All one need do is to look around our city to see who to trust. Everywhere, on every strip of city property, in front of vacant lots and on massive freeway billboards, you see signs urging vote yes on Prop. 2. Meanwhile, in the yards of the hardworking members of this community, people have made their positions clear: They stand with Alpine School District and the the teachers who invest in the students of Orem. Please join us in VOTING NO ON PROPOSITION 2.

Dominique Replogle is an English teacher at Orem High School.