Incumbent Emily Peterson emphasizes arts, parental perspective and fiscal restraint in bid for Timpanogos seat
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Summary
Emily Peterson, an incumbent member of the Alpine School District board, said her experience defending dual‑language and music programs and working with principals drove her to run for a seat in the new Timpanogos‑area district. She emphasized community engagement, teacher compensation, and voter approval for major bonds.
Emily Peterson, an incumbent Alpine School District board member running for Seat 5 in the newly formed Timpanogos‑area district, said she decided to seek another term after seeing programs she values — including dual‑language immersion and music — threatened and after working with parents and principals to preserve them.
Peterson said she ran to be “somebody that has kids in the school that can say, this is how we’re gonna be affected” when program changes are proposed. She said she helped pass “a really generous benefits package for teachers” while on the Alpine board and that keeping arts and music in elementary schools is a priority because they serve as critical supports for students who learn differently.
Peterson described music and art as essential to educating the whole child and said her own experience with learning differences informed her priorities. “I started getting involved … because a few years ago, they tried to move my children’s DLI,” she said, and later added that losing the music teacher at her child’s school made her engage with district governance.
On fiscal questions, Peterson said she voted against Alpine’s recent tax increase. “I voted no to the tax hike,” she said; the board vote was 5–2. She told voters she prefers putting major building projects before taxpayers on the ballot rather than using lease‑revenue financing without a public vote.
Peterson said she has been meeting principals, studying facility and program needs and that those conversations shaped her “erase all boundaries and start over again” approach to redrawing school lines after the district split. She described herself as fiscally conservative, community‑focused and accessible to constituents; she provided a campaign phone number and the website emilyforschoolboard.com for questions.
Peterson asked voters in the north Orem area to weigh her combination of school‑level experience, program advocacy and insistence on public engagement for major fiscal measures when they vote in the new district’s first election.