LEHI, UT (November 6, 2024) – With yesterday’s passage of Prop 11, voters in northern Utah County overwhelmingly approved the creation of a new school district. The new district will serve Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Draper (Utah County portion), Highland, and Lehi students. The new school district will become Utah’s sixth largest, serving approximately 35,978 students with 34 school buildings and six district facilities. In addition to the passage of Prop 11, voters in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain also approved Prop 14 to create a new school district in northwestern Utah County.
At over 84,000 students, the Alpine School District is currently the largest and fastest-growing school district in Utah. To create three new school districts, the ASD will be dissolved and voters will elect new school board members for three groupings of communities: a western school district for Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs, Cedar Fort and Fairfield, a central school district for Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Draper (Utah County portion), Highland and Lehi, and a school district for Pleasant Grove, Lindon, Orem and Vineyard. The new school boards will oversee negotiations regarding the reallocation of resources, the establishment of administrative policies, oversight of staffing and personnel decisions and preparations of facilities for the launch of three new districts in July 2027.
“With the passage of Prop 11, voters have made their preference resoundingly clear. They want a new school district that better represents them and provides a high-quality education for the children in our communities,” said Lehi City Councilmember Heather Newall. “I am inspired by the overwhelming support demonstrated by our voters to make this critical decision that will directly benefit our communities for many generations.”
The passage of Prop 11 follows the release of an independent study conducted in April 2024 that concluded the creation of a new district was a feasible alternative. The study showed that a new school district would likely keep taxes lower in northern Utah County communities while empowering them to make the best for their children and families. Following the study release, the city councils in these communities conducted a months-long, robust engagement campaign to hear directly from the public. The cities hosted over a dozen public hearings and gathered comments from hundreds of constituents. These public engagement efforts culminated in a unanimous vote by all city councils to empower voters by putting Prop 11 on the ballot.
“The citizens have spoken. We support the will of the voters to create a new school district to serve our communities,” said Highland City Mayor Kurt Ostler. “We are encouraged by the high voter turnout that definitively showed our efforts to engage the public on this important issue were effective. We are committed to keeping residents informed as we work closely with Alpine School District administrators and teachers to move forward with the next steps in the process.”
With voter approval, work will now comment to divide the existing resources between the school districts. Voters will elect new school board members in November 2025. The new board members will take office in January 2026 and new district operations will commence in July 2027. This information is based on preliminary election results. It is anticipated that the Utah County Commission will certify final election results on Tuesday, November 19 after the final canvassing has been conducted. For more information, please visit vote.utahcounty.gov.
Submitted by Jeanteil Livingston
