Orem Student Enrollment Is Stable.

Orem has a stable student population, not a declining population. Orem has had stable growth continuously since 2000. A stable growth student population means educational needs are easier to plan and manage for both teachers and administration.

Each year Orem City continues to grow. In the current 2022 World Population Review, Orem’s population is 100,089. Of that number, 70,190 are adults. (shown in the red square)

In the chart below, by the 2020 US Census, they break down the population by age:

If we just take ages 5 to 19 year olds (in the red square), Orem has approximately 23,651 children who meet K-12 age requirements with another 8,000 coming according to the above chart. In Alpine School District Enrollment History and Projection Report (pg 57) we see that Orem has approximately 16,000 students registered in Orem.

According to this report, Enrollment projections for 2022 in the 3 high school clusters in Orem are as follows: (see Cluster key below)

Mountain View HS 6,832 Students
Orem HS 5,034 Students
Timpanogos HS 5,023 Students

TOTAL Students: 16,889 Students

If we subtract the 18-19 year olds, around 3,000 kids - there are over 20,000 K-12 students in Orem. If we adjust the 16,000 students enrolled in Alpine School District Orem Schools to just be the Orem students we have approximately 14,000 Orem kids attending ASD Schools in Orem. It’s important to ask where are the other 6,000 Orem students enrolled? Why have they chosen to pursue their educational pursuits outside of Alpine School District public schools, and to whom have they turned to achieve these pursuits? The Feasibility Study shows that currently 1 in every 6 Orem students have chosen other educational avenues outside of Alpine School District, i.e., charter school, private school, home schooling, etc.

Page 88 of the ASD Report shows that charter school attendance continues to increase rapidly. Why are parents and students seeking options that Alpine School District is not able to meet? The answers vary by student/family, which may include: class sizes that are too large, declining test scores/academic achievement, decreased specialty classes, seismically unsafe schools, decisions made to consolidate several smaller neighborhood schools into larger school(s), inadequate attention given to Title I (low income) schools, etc. The fact remains, 17% of Orem parents and students are choosing to leave/have left Alpine School District. Orem has many children and more coming. As shown above, an Orem School District will not be small. With 15,000 students, it will still be larger than 95% of School Districts in the Nation.

Also important to note is that Vineyard and Lindon students who are currently attending Orem Schools, will be able to continue to attend Orem Schools. Utah is an Open Enrollment State – meaning by Law – “School Choice Law” – students may attend the school of their choice. Orem District will welcome those students to our schools.

The bulk of funding for education comes from state and federal funds. Those funds follow the student, not the district, and combined with Orem’s Property Taxes, an Orem School District will thrive. Orem District can enter into “Shared Services” agreements with ASD to educate the students from Vineyard and Lindon. ASD will welcome this agreement as busing all of Vineyard to Pleasant Grove for junior high and high school would not be cost effective and there would not be room. Both Alpine and Orem districts care about children and will work together to allow families to continue in their same schools, and transition smoothly to their new district..Currently, Alpine School District has shared services agreements with other school districts and can do the same with Orem. Jordan School District also shares services as well. It is a common practice in districts across the Nation.

On the other hand, what will Orem lose if we stay with the Alpine School District? There will continue to be a new school bond every 4 years, our taxes will continue to rise, and, if past experience is any indication, Orem will not receive monies from those bonds to rebuild each of our neighborhood schools, but our schools will be closed and consolidated and the land will be sold to build schools in other cities. In summary, Alpine School District will continue to close Orem Schools and sell Orem’s real estate.

What would closing and consolidating Orem schools look like? This has already happened to several Orem schools in the past and is likely to continue. Hillcrest and Scera Park were combined and the Hillcrest land was sold. Geneva and Suncrest were combined and Geneva was torn down–ASD plans to rebuild on the Geneva property and sell the Parkside land. Polaris alternative high school was closed and the land was sold. Kimberly Bird, ASD executive, said that Lindon Elementary was likely on the 2022 bond–solidified by the fact that ASD purchased a large parcel of land in Lindon for a school earlier this year. Consider carefully what this would mean for students attending both Aspen Elementary and Northridge Elementary. If Alpine School District builds a mega elementary school (designed for 1,000+ children) in Lindon, it will likely close and consolidate Aspen & Northridge Elementary into the Lindon school. Only two Orem schools, Bonneville and Parkside Elementary, would then remain between State Street and I-15 and from Center Street to 2000 N. Both of these schools are Title I (low income) schools and are at full capacity. (Note: Parkside is the old Suncrest building that now houses the consolidation of Suncrest and Geneva) . Geneva needs to be rebuilt immediately.

An important reason for an Orem School District is so Orem money can stay in Orem and rebuild our neighborhood schools as soon as possible. We have to be proactive, and work to stop the closing of schools in Orem. We need to support these disadvantaged neighborhoods and families.

Of equal urgency, Orem has 4 schools which have been identified since 2006 as being seismically unsafe. These schools are Sharon, Geneva (torn down but not replaced), Windsor, and Orem Jr. High. Alpine School District has stated on several occasions that it intends to demolish Sharon Elementary and will send its students to Windsor, and is considering options for Northridge Elementary as well. Consider all of these factors and the conclusion is: Alpine School District will likely demolish Aspen, Sharon, and Northridge. They will sell all three parcels of land. They will split the students between a new Lindon mega school (designed for 1,000 elementary students) and a new Windsor mega school, busing in students from all three former school boundaries. Busing costs are expensive fixed costs that will continue into the future for our Orem schools. Alpine School District will take the proceeds from the sale of these valuable parcels, and likely give Orem just one school back, Windsor. This is Alpine School District math: 5 = 2. Sharon, Aspen, Northridge, Windsor, and Lindon all torn down, and replaced with just two schools. That math simply does not compute into success for Orem children! Add to this the wealth in property taxes that Orem transfers to ASD every year already – it’s staggering. Orem children deserve so much more than this.

Orem has funded school construction in many neighboring cities for the past 20 years. If you look at the back page of your property tax statement, you will see that over 70% of your property taxes go to Alpine School District. These funds are largely being used to build schools in other cities, versus rebuilding Orem’s seismically unsafe schools. For example, Orem paid 26% of the 2016 bond and received just 11% back as improvements. Over the past 20 years, Orem paid $765 Million dollars in property taxes. $428 Million dollars went to the General Fund. $163 Million dollars came back as improvements (see the real estate article) – while $174 Million dollars of Orem’s taxes went to build schools outside of Orem. These figures do not account for the monies Alpine School District took for the sale of Orem lands/schools–Hillcrest, Polaris/East Summit High. This makes no sense financially or morally, while 12 Orem schools are identified as seismically unsafe (see FEMA report published February 2022). As an Orem School District we would be able to keep property taxes for Orem Students' in Orem for school needs, and utilize the funds in more appropriate and effective ways.

4 feasibility studies have all shown that Orem has a strong tax base and is capable of not only sustaining an Orem City School District, but allowing it to thrive. Currently, Alpine School District spends approximately $8,000 per student per year. In an Orem School District we would be able to spend $10,000 per student. Watch this video for an explanation. What could you do with $2,000 more per student per year?! In a smaller district, you would have a say!!

Again, Orem has a stable student population and sound finances that allow an Orem School District to thrive. In summary:

Does Orem have enough student population for its own school district? YES!
Will students outside of Orem be able to attend Orem Schools? YES!
Will an Orem School District have sufficient funding for all of its students and programs? YES! (including reintroducing beloved specialties like music, language, art, STEM, etc.)
Can an Orem School District thrive with Orem’s diverse demographics? YES!

Additional Information:

Graphs below show district sizes side by side. A look at the larger enrollment of Orem’s middle and elementary schools shows solid growth throughout the school system (K-12), which bodes very well for Orem. Also included are graphs that show the financial revenues (WPU) of these two Districts. Students currently are given $4,038 (WPU) per year from state funds. The Utah State Legislature has consistently grown these funds year by year. The current rate equates to roughly $60 million revenues for Orem students. These monies are given by the State of Utah, and follow the student. These funds go directly to the general fund, to pay for teacher salaries and other necessary costs. There are other revenue sources besides the WPU (such as property taxes, federal funds for low income students, grants, etc.) that combined give Orem financial strength to move forward as a successful and independent school district.

It’s time for an Orem School District! It’s time for Orem students and schools to succeed! We must act now to avoid more debt from current and future bonds (enormous debt with very little return for Orem), from students falling further behind academically, to fix Orem’s badly needed seismically unsafe schools, and to save Orem’s neighborhood schools from being closed and our land sold off.

VOTE YES on PROP 2!