OREM CITY COUNCIL/ALPINE SCHOOL DISTRICT
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING
56 North State, Orem, Utah
January 11, 2017
This meeting was for discussion purposes only. No official action was taken.
CONDUCTING Mayor Richard F. Brunst
OREM ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmembers Debby Lauret, Sam Lentz, Tom Macdonald, and Mark Seastrand
OREM STAFF Jamie Davison, City Manager; Brenn Bybee, Assistant City Manager; Steven Downs, Assistant to the City Manager; Karl Hirst, Recreation Department Director; and Jackie Lambert, Deputy City Recorder
ALPINE BOARD OF EDUCATION Mark Clement, Sarah Hacken, Paula Hill, and JoDee Sundberg
ALPINE SCHOOL DISTRICT ADMIN. Sam Jarman, Superintendent; Jess Christen, Administrative Director of Operations
ABSENT/EXCUSED David Spencer and Brent Sumner
INVOCATION Tom Macdonald
Mayor Brunst called the meeting to order at 12:08 p.m.
Items of Common Interest
DISCUSSION – District Growth and Construction
Superintendent Jarman said the district had good news about the bond sale. He said the district was continuing to grow, and gave the example of Sky Ridge High School (SRHS). SRHS had opened within the last year, and the district had just approved a 16-classroom satellite campus to accommodate the school’s growth. SRHS senior class was approximately 495 students and the incoming group of 9th graders was approximately 695 students. The school had started full and hopefully the additional classrooms would take care of current and some future needs.
Mayor Brunst asked if the district had anything new to report in Vineyard. Superintendent Jarman said they had purchased some property for an elementary school but were not certain of the timeline. There was an issue with the charter schools currently in Vineyard and so the district was waiting to move forward when some of those issues were resolved.
Mrs. Sundberg believed that one of the charter schools in Vineyard would likely be closing soon. She said the school had followed a less traditional curriculum and had a different philosophy on what the school would be apart from traditional schools. The idea was that parents and students had more flexibility but the idea had not been as successful as initially anticipated. There had been over sixteen transfers from the charter school to Vineyard Elementary in recent months, which was significant. She imagined that even more had transferred to the other charter school nearby.
Mr. Macdonald asked what happened in the case of a charter school closing. Mrs. Sundberg said there would likely be consequences for the owners and investors of the school, not to mention those that taught and attended at the school. She said it was very different than if a public school was facing closure.
DISCUSSION – SROs and School Safety
Superintendent Jarman asked Mr. Christen to address the possibility of more School Resource Officers (SROs) at the junior high level, particularly Canyon View Junior High (CVJH) in Orem. Superintendent Jarman said that improving security at district schools was going to be part of Phase 3 of the bonding.
Mr. Christen said safety was always a priority for the district. In light of recent events and particularly the incident at Mountain View High School, they were accelerating some of the safety upgrades. These included removing the block glass for regular glass to provide a clear view of who was entering the building and providing line of sight for increased security. CVJH was the last school in the area to receive this upgrade. Mr. Christen said parents were increasingly interested in having SROs at the junior highs, and the district was looking at expanding that program. He said it would be a different model than at the high schools, and would have SROs in place for around 4 hours or so a day. The district’s Safety Coordinator would work the district’s agencies so that all had a standard response protocol when needed. They wanted a more system-like approach where everyone was on the same page.
Mayor Brunst asked if there had been any psychological fallout since the incident at MVHS. Mr. Christen said there had been. The first responders and the crisis team that came to the school tried to help students that were involved either directly or indirectly by offering counseling. He said the surprising thing had been the fallout with the adults, and seeing first-hand the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that some were dealing with. They were working with individuals to find private care providers that would give the needed support going forward.
Superintendent Jarman said these kinds of things were tough. The community could not just reset and go back to normal the next day. He said trust levels were affected, and people dealt with the aftermath in their own time and in their own ways. The district was lucky to have had open schools that did not feel like fortresses, but that too came at some cost. He appreciated what Mr. Christen was doing to improve safety across the district.
Mr. Davidson asked if the discussions on additional SROs had taken place with the chiefs of police in within the district. He thought it would be particularly important to keep the cities in the loop because additional SROs would need to be accommodated for in the budgeting process. Mr. Christen said it was his intention to discuss the matter with the chiefs of police within the district.
Superintendent Jarman said he was extremely proud of the work the Crisis Team had been doing within the district. He said that the only “silver lining” that came from tragedies like those at MVHS or at Northridge Elementary, where a student had been killed in a vehicle/pedestrian accident, was that the district would be better prepared in the future.
Mrs. Sundberg added that she was familiar with the family of the assailant from the MVHS stabbing incident, and that it had been tough for their family. They were still struggling to understand why it had happened. However, she said you could really see the strength of our community in the aftermath of these kinds of incidents. People were quick to help and support one another.
Mr. Christen said that as well as safety concerns, they were seismic concerns, ADA accessibility concerns for restrooms and entries to school buildings, testing for mold and radon, etc. that would be addressed as part of Phase 3.
Mr. Lentz said he thought the bond was performing well. He asked if there was a “wish list” the district would try to tackle with the additional money. Superintendent Jarman said they would be careful with any additional money; they needed to be strategic with how money was spent and prioritized.
Mr. Davidson added that the construction market was doing well and that made things more costly. That may be a factor in rebuilding or retrofitting schools. Superintendent Jarman said they had a plan for which schools would need to be rebuilt and costs would help determine the timeline.
UPDATE – Orem City Growth
Mrs. Sundberg asked about the growth of apartments and condominiums in Orem. Mayor Brunst said the Aston at University Place was 100 percent leased, and that Midtown 360 was around 75 percent leased. Other projects like The Parc on Center, The Residences at Monteval, Canyon View Crossing, and others were also doing well. There was a low unemployment rate and a high job growth rate. Orem continued to be an incubator for growing small businesses. In response to a follow up question from Mrs. Sundberg, Mayor Brunst said the tenants of many of these complexes were single, working professionals and empty nester couples. He said they were about $1.30 per sq. ft.
Mr. Davidson said the majority of the higher density developments were along key travel corridors. He said while it seemed like a lot of new growth, these projects had all been approved more than 24 months ago. He said the growth was heading to UVU, which had recently adopted a new Master Plan and part of the focus of that plan was getting students onto campus. However, he said that UVU was not looking to be in the business of housing and no formal plans or requests had been submitted to the City.
Mrs. Sundberg said her neighborhood was particularly concerned about growth around the UVU area. Mr. Davidson said the challenge was that developers came in with big ideas that may or may not make sense for the area. He said the City would collaborate and find the best solutions for all parties.
Mrs. Sundberg said the district was not unfamiliar with the rumor mill and concerns from residents. She referenced a neighborhood meeting for Polaris High School that was one of the most difficult meetings she had ever gone through because people were so concerned with having that high school in their area. She was amazed at the vitriolic nature of the comments, considering that these students were the children and grandchildren of the neighbors.
Mr. Davidson said he understood the concerns of the neighbors and the concerns of property owners and developers. He believed that things would work out but they needed cooler heads to prevail.
Superintendent Jarman asked if areas were being abandoned because people we removing to the new apartments. Mr. Davidson said no, that they had good occupancy rates throughout the city. He said in the urbanization of an area people wanted their residences to stay close to amenities and employment and for that to happen, growth needed to start going up, not just out.
UPDATE – Upcoming State Legislative Session 2017
Mr. Seastrand asked if there were any legislative issues the district wanted the City to be aware of.
Superintendent Jarman said a key issue was businesses that wanted to support education, but wanted to do that through a referendum and have a portion of tax go toward education. He said the district had some concerns about how that money would then be distributed. They wanted the money to go toward things like teacher pay, but if funding was collected that way the district may have little to no say in how the money gets used.
Mrs. Sundberg said the district needed the infusion of money, but they would prefer that it go through the right channels.
Set Date and Time for Next
The next meeting was scheduled for March 15, 2017, at noon in the Orem City Council Chambers.
Adjournment
Mr. Seastrand moved to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Macdonald seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 1:22 p.m.
Donna R. Weaver, City Recorder
Approved: January 24, 2017
Joint Orem City Council/Alpine School District Minutes – January 11, 2017 (p.5)