Alpine School District considers taking two-way split option to voters

A consulting firm hired to study how Alpine School District could reconfigure recommended a two-way split Tuesday.

A proposal to split Utah’s largest school district into two smaller districts could head to ballots this November, though where exactly new district boundaries would fall is still being determined.

Officials from MGT, a Florida-based consulting firm MGT hired by the Alpine School District to perform a reconfiguration study, formally recommended a two-way split to school board members Tuesday evening. Ultimately, it’s up to the board to decide whether they’ll propose a ballot question.

“If the district does decide to go forward, a two-way split is preferential,” said Lance Richards, educational performance manager for MGT.

The recommendation comes after MGT spent weeks gathering resident feedback on five proposed scenarios that would divide the district into two or three parts. A sixth proposal to keep the district as-is was also presented to residents for feedback.

Of the six options, two involved a two-way split. MGT recommended that the board consider both of those options.

“There was not a lot of support for a three-way [split],” Richards said. “A three-way [split] in terms of splitting your resources and assets might be 10 times as hard in terms of complications.”

The two scenarios under consideration involve dividing Alpine into two separate districts — one to the east, and one to the west. The only difference between the options is whether Lehi would be placed in the east or west.