Alpine (Utah) board spends $12.9 million on possible site for new high school

The Alpine (Utah) school board has approved spending $12.9 million to buy land in the western part of the district for construction of a high school.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the 50-acre site is just south of Brookhaven Elementary, which feeds students into both of the area’s existing high schools.

The district has not secured the funds needed to build a new high school. Last year, district voters rejected a $600 million bond proposal that would have provided the needed funds. The 84,000-student school system also is looking at the possibility of breaking apart into two or three districts.

The property acquired by the district had been owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“It will eventually be a high school site,” said Julie King, board vice president, “but as to how we’re going to come up with the dollars for that, for the actual construction, is still undetermined.”

The money to acquire the land comes from the district’s capital fund.

The two high schools now operating in the western section of the district — Westlake in Saratoga Springs, and Cedar Valley in Eagle Mountain -- have about 3,000 students and continue to grow, according to district officials. By 2027, Cedar Valley’s enrollment may be closer to 4,000 students.

“Based on growth that’s happening in the area,” King said, “we need the [new] high school to be under construction already.”

The Alpine district’s recent investments in new land and schools coincide with the possibility of breaking up the district. In May, the board voted to begin the process of studying a possible split that could create two or three new districts.

In September, Superintendent Shane Farnsworth announced that MGT Consulting Group had been selected to perform the study.