Voters in June 2006 approved Alpine District to have a $230 million bond. The district is in the second phase of spending the bond funding. Voters also approved a $1.7 million leeway.

The $850,000 in capital funding is due to the state not funding capital projects as much as it used to. New legislation has changed the formula for how districts receive this funding. This came right when Alpine District's enrollment is growing rapidly. The district took the biggest reduction in the state, Smith said.

"We took a huge hit," he said. "Our capital-projects budget this year was very difficult."

Last year Alpine District received $16.2 million from the state for capital projects, whereas this year the district will receive only $2.4 million from the state, Smith said.

"We're just holding the rate the same because of that significant loss," he said. The district plans to spend $144.3 million on teacher salaries. Last year it was $132.6 million. This includes the $1,700 teacher-salary increase from the Legislature. Also, the district hired 107 new teachers.

New district programs will take up some funding.

Summer school will take $510,000. On June 2, the district launched a pilot program at Mountain View High School in Orem and Lehi High School with 400 students at each site. Students are taking courses to either catch up or get ahead.

A program to reduce the student-to-adult ratio is $500,000. This includes hiring instructional assistants who will be trained as skilled educators. A district wellness program will cost $100,000. It is meant to implement a healthy lifestyle and reduce health-insurance costs in the long run.

Implementing a health-savings account for $853,000 will allow educators to set aside money to be used for health-related expenses when they retire.

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E-mail: astewart@desnews.com