By Irinna Schwenke
ijs@email.byu.edu
Tremendous growth in the Alpine area has prompted the opening of three new elementary schools for the 2000-2001 school year.
Snow Springs, West Field and Mount Mahogany elementary schools serve as relief schools to Cedar Ridge, Manila, Valley View and Central elementary.
All three schools opened at or near capacity level. Snow Springs opened with 862 students with an 864 capacity.
With numbers so high, the schools have no room for growth in upcoming years.
Assistant superintendent of elementary schools, Gary Seastrand, estimates that the 2,500 students enrolled this year is substantially larger than last year's population. The rise of housing developments in the Lehi and Alpine areas partly explains the large number of elementary age students in the area.
Growth is expected to continue bringing into question whether or not the educational needs of students can be met in the Alpine area.
Consequently, growth seems to only be taking place in the Alpine and Lehi areas. In Provo, Principal Ray Morgan of Canyon Crest Elementary said that their population has been stable for the past 3-4 years.
'Our population has been at about 575 for a couple of years now ... We can't seem to move from that number,' he said.
Morgan said that although the citywide population of Provo has been increasing, the elementary school age population has been decreasing. With tremendous growth occurring in some areas and stability in others, one wonders about the allocation of capital amongst schools in the Utah area.
The new schools in the Alpine area are products of the 1998 bond vote granting the Alpine School District $60 million. After putting the motion to a vote, the public agreed to a tax increase of $7 on a $100,000 home.
Although $60 million is a substantial amount of money, it is nowhere near the amount necessary to appease all of the problems in the Utah education system.
Overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and supplies on the elementary, secondary and high school levels makes educational funding a highly controversial issue.
The construction of the much-needed schools has already used up the 1998 bond money and no additional funding is expected in the near future.
No major glitches occurred within the first week of operation of the three schools. Scott Westover, principal of Mount Mahogany said that the week has been a settling in process for not only the students, but also the teachers and administrators.
'Its all brand new,' said Westover of the first week of school. 'There are a few bumps, but it's nothing we can't handle.'