Pleasant Grove not 'ghetto' enough for new school
That's according to a handful of residents — many of whom have high school-aged children — at a Tuesday night meeting, which the Alpine School District scheduled to drum up support for a proposed $230 million bond issuance for the construction of nine new schools, including a new Orem High School that will be rebuilt on its existing property.
Not all of the 50 residents at the meeting were convinced Orem High is in worse shape than Pleasant Grove High, which has bats living in an elevator shaft that occasionally fly through the school's halls. Principal Jeff Christen said he smells bat droppings on hot days.
"Always when it comes to the bond or anything happens, it's like, 'Well, we've got to take care of the growth areas (in the north), Orem.' Pleasant Grove has always been in the middle, we're kind of the stepchild in many ways," said parent Gainell Rogers.
"I'm offended. Now, I'm a Pleasant Grove guy," Board of Education member Guy Fugal said in response to residents' complaints about the school and how they feel ignored by the district.
A seismic study that the district promised to make public will prove that it will be cheaper to rebuild Orem High than to make the necessary upgrades, Fugal said. Pleasant Grove High, on the other hand, has fewer seismic concerns, he said.
The proposed Pleasant Grove improvements include a new wing that would replace the 30 portable units. Weight-lifting, dance and wrestling rooms would be remodeled.
Property taxes on a $200,000 home would increase by less than $5 a month if the bond issuance and a $4.5 million increase in the voted leeway are approved by voters.
The district would spend $20-$22 million to rebuild Orem High, said Barry Graff, administrator of K-12 services for the Alpine School District.
Graff said he was sympathetic toward the concerns about Pleasant Grove High.
"We anticipate that some of those concerns and some of those needs we could meet on future bonds and wish we could meet everything right now," Graff said.
Resident Lisa Fausett said she would accept a higher property tax increase if Pleasant Grove High were razed and rebuilt.
"I would, I know others who would," she said.
E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com
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