PROVO, Utah — Provo parents are speaking out about their school district’s $38 million plan to rebuild an elementary school that was just opened less than 20 years ago.
The plan was approved nearly a year ago by the Provo City School Board, but recently resurfaced as a point of contention for many of the district's parents.
— Provo parents push back against $38 million plan to move elementary school —
“Their job is to uphold the entire Provo School District community - not one at the expense of the other,” said Alyssa Nelson.
Nelson first reached out to Fox 13 News with separate concerns back in the spring when her child’s school, Canyon Crest Elementary, was among several being considered for closure.
“I learned about the Timpanogos situation then because people were questioning it,” Nelson said.
Caleb Price directs communications for the school district and says Timpanogos Elementary has faced challenges with crowding.
“It wasn’t built to house the number of students that it has now," said Price. "Almost immediately, a portable [classroom] had to be brought in.”
It also has problems that stem from its design and location on a busy street.
“Multiple times, school staff have had to chase kids to stop them from running onto 500 West,” Price said.
Price explained that the idea for a rebuild came as part of a bigger discussion around the use of a vacant lot only two blocks away - which used to house Dixon Middle School.
“An educational building was what the community wanted,” Price continued.
So the school board approved the move for Timpanogos in an October 2025 vote.
But now, these parents want them to pump the brakes.
“Being there in the school, I never felt like, ‘Oh, these hallways are too crowded or these lunchrooms are too crowded,’" said Shannon Bingham. "I didn’t experience that.”
All four of Bingham’s children went there since the school opened in 2008. She’s started a petition against the move that’s gathered about 400 signatures so far.
“It makes absolutely no sense when we have three schools in the district that are half-full,” Bingham said.
“This is a relatively new school - why would we need another one as enrollment rates are declining?” asked another concerned parent, Leah Grow.
Price says that those issues shouldn’t be tied together.
“The needs of Timpanogos Elementary aren’t related to overall enrollment across the district, or some of the issues we’re seeing at other schools,” Price said.
He adds that they’re not looking to bond or go into debt for the project.
“It's not even just the goal - the plan is to rebuild Timpanogos without raising taxes for our community,” said Price.
But these parents still want their voices heard, because they feel all that money could be better spent.
“$38 million is taxpayer money - period," said Bingham. "If they’ve got $38 million floating around, they can shift and move things.”
“I feel I’d rather have money invested in the education that’s happenings, versus the buildings that we have,” said parent Shay Aslett.
Some of these parents are planning to attend the school board's next meeting, which is to be held Friday at the Grandview Technology Center in Provo.
It is an all-day meeting, with public input slated for 2:15 p.m.