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John T. Gadd, Candidate for Alpine School Board Election 2024

John 'Thrifty' Gadd

for Timpanogos School Board - District 2​​​

JOHN'S POSITIONS

1. Stop Runaway Taxes

  • As a committed social and fiscal conservative, my top priority is to stop the runaway property tax increases by our local school board. 

  • The current school board voted to raise our property taxes 12 times in the past 7 years! (And they have a vote scheduled on August 5th to raise our property taxes again by another 10.45%!) 

  • The new Timpanogos School Board will have plenty of money (hundreds of millions of our tax dollars) to do a great job without any more tax increases.

  • This raising of our taxes faster than the rate of inflation has been a hardship for families with tight budgets, especially families with young children and seniors on fixed incomes.

  • Given that the number of students in our area continues to decline (a trend that has been steady for several years) while property tax revenue (at current rates) continues to go up (due to new growth), the new Timpanogos School Board can lower taxes and still spend the same amount per student or can keep property taxes the same and continually increase how much we spend per student. Either way, taxes don't need to go up - they can instead either stay the same or go down.

  • If elected, I will never vote to raise our taxes - no more tax increases, period!

  • Every other candidate in this race has indicated that they are open to more tax increases.

2. Cut Wasteful Spending

  • We can avoid our taxes being raised if the new Timpanogos School Board will cut wasteful spending from its annual budget.

  • The current school board wastes MILLIONS of our tax dollars every year on extravagant school buildings

  • ​If elected, I will never vote for an extravagant school building, because school buildings don't educate and inspire students - great teachers do!

  • Also, over the last 7 years, the current school board voted to raise their own compensation by over 400%! 

  • If elected, I will refuse any compensation for serving on the school board.

  • Instead of building an expensive new school district office, I favor using existing unused space in neighborhood schools for office space for district employees.

  • Rather than working in a separate ivory-tower district office, I think it would be great for the district superintendent, the district business administrator, and every other district employee to go to work in a neighborhood school where they will be easily accessible as a resource for teachers and staff.

  • No other candidate in this race has expressed support for using unused space in neighborhood schools for office space.

3. Prioritize Teaching

  • The new Timpanogos School Board should free up money in the budget to prioritize what matters most - great teaching!

  • The budget should prioritize teaching by compensating teachers fairly and providing them with the resources they need.

  • The current school district has become bloated with unnecessary and harmful woke programs, such as their DEI program.

  • The school district has also become bloated with unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, with 55 Alpine School District administrators being compensated more than the Governor of the State of Utah in 2024, with the highest-paid administrator being compensated $366,736.17 for his job in the school district.

  • If elected, I will vote to eliminate the DEI program and to eliminate the bloated levels of bureaucracy plaguing the current school district, and to shift those dollars over to support teachers and teaching resources.
  • No other candidate in this race has come out against the DEI program or the unnecessary layers of bureaucracy.
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