LINDON — The Lindon City Council wants to join Orem officials in researching the possibility of splitting off from the Alpine School District and forming a new school district.

There was only a short discussion over the issue Tuesday night, followed by a quick, unanimous vote.

The council's main concerns were not about the difficulties of creating a new district but what could happen to Lindon schools if Orem were to break away without them.

"If Orem goes to a separate school district, it's almost going to put us in a position where we need to do it too because we're so dependent on them and they're so dependent on us," said Councilman Toby Bath, referring to the fact that many Orem children attend Lindon schools and vice versa. "We need to go by the feasibility study. We might find out this is totally not feasible at all, but it's worth investigating."

The Orem City Council voted in favor of the study last week.

Council members decided to focus initially on their city alone, but said they would be willing to include other nearby cities that express interest.

Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn and Lindon Mayor Jeff Acerson met last week to discuss Lindon joining the study.

"As we counseled together, we both felt it would be appropriate to at least do a feasibility study," Acerson said. "It will give us some constructive information that might help us decide if we want to move forward and create a separate school district."

Even if a new district is created, however, Orem officials haven't made any promises on whether they will choose to include other communities.

"By including a community in the study, it does not guarantee that the city will be included in the new district if we decide to go forward," Washburn said last week.

Council members in both cities said part of the motivation for consideration of the possible separation is that Alpine is just too big to meet individual community needs.

Alpine is the third largest school district in the state, covering all of Utah County north of Provo.

A final decision on whether or not either of the cities will part ways with Alpine will not be made until the study is complete.

"People are marching in line for this already, and some citizens want action today, but I think adding facts to the process is critical," said Lindon Councilman Eric Anthony. "We can't just go on an emotional bias. These facts will help us make a sound decision that will affect us for 30 to 40 years maybe. It's a serious decision."

If the study finds that a new district is a realistic possibility, the issue will be put to a citywide vote. If the process goes quickly, it could appear on the November general election ballot.

The feasibility study comes on the tail of a new law passed this year by the Legislature that allows large cities to break away and form their own school districts.

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E-mail: alorimer@desnews.com