DRAPER, Utah — Tuesday night, communities gathered in Draper and Highland to discuss forming a new school district, splitting away from the Alpine School District.
Under the plan, students residing in the Utah County side of Draper would be reorganized into the "Central School District."
Draper joins Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Highland and Lehi in exploring the option to split away and create a new district.
The cities have already conducted a feasibility study, which concluded that the "creation of a Central School District is a viable opportunity that could provide less of a future property tax burden in these communities if they separated from the Alpine School District," Draper City wrote in a statement.
Now, a public comment period is underway so residents can weigh in on the possible split, beginning with meetings on Tuesday night.
About 11,000 residents were surveyed prior to Tuesday's meeting, with residents and district staff participating.
FOX 13's content sharing partners at The Salt Lake Tribune reported in May that the overwhelming response wanted to keep the district as one.
During the public hearing in Highland, residents were split on whether the split would benefit the community.
"There are many educational and community benefits in keeping Alpine School District as a single entity and I worry about the impact two interlocal agreements would have on all students," one resident said at the meeting.
"The other thing that makes me want to split, besides more local control is that right now our school board is not working very well together," another resident remarked.
Public meetings started Tuesday night in Highland and Draper and will continue to be held through the end of July in all six cities. To view the meetings schedule, click here.
The public comment period and meetings will conclude on August 2 and then city councils will decide whether to put the school district split proposal on the ballot a few days later, on August 6.
Should the issue be put on the ballot, voters would then decide whether to create the Central School District on election day, November 5.
