Education
Lehi schools target class size reduction with Utah Trust Lands funds
Megan Wallgren | Lehi Free Press
With the school year halfway through, local school administrations are starting to plan next year’s school budgets. A portion of each school’s budget comes from Utah Trust Landsfunds. Lehi area schools reported spending the bulk of that money on school personnel.
The Trust Lands funds come from revenue from land granted to Utah by the US Government when it became a state in 1896. These lands were designated to support essential public institutions. State trust land managers lease and sell these lands to generate revenue.
“We pay teachers for extra sections to relieve our class sizes. Instead of 44 students in a class, we’ll get 32, so it’s more manageable for teachers and a better environment for the students,” said Skyridge Principal John Wallwork. “We also use it [trust land funds] to fund support staff who do a lot of important and awesome things with high school kids that struggle.”
As residential growth in Lehi continues, reducing class sizes is a priority for many area schools. “We did increase the level of funds going to class size reduction,” said Lehi Junior High Principal Matt King.
Local schools rely on these funds for personnel to run many school programs such as literacy intervention, special education, counseling, social work, classroom aids, music, art, and PE programs. “Without school land trust funds, it would be very difficult to do this job correctly,” said Wallwork.
The allotment each school receives depends on its size and student enrollment, so funding varies slightly each year. Lehi schools received amounts ranging from $90,000 at Lehi Elementary, with the lowest student enrollment, to $372,297 for Skyridge High School, with the highest student population.
School Community Councils (SCC) plan how this money will be spent at the school level. Created by the state legislature in 2000, the councils include the school’s principal, a school employee, and parents or guardians of students attending the school. School Community Councils are elected by those residing within school boundaries.
Yearly, each school’s SCC comes up with goals for the school and a budget to allocate land trust funds to help meet those goals. SCCs are meeting now to plan for next year’s fund allotment.
“We will meet and start it next month. They [plans] are due [to the state] in March, said Lehi Elementary principal Tiffinie Littlefield. “It will be similar to last year’s plan.”
Each school is required by law to post their goals and budget on the school website. This information can be found on the site’s School Community Council page, commonly labeled as a TSSA plan, named for the Teacher and Student Success Act that governs money distribution through the SCC.
Many Lehi schools are also using the money to fund teacher professional development. Technology is another popular way to use school land trust money. All of the expenditures must align with SCC’s goals for student success. “When it comes to spending that money, they have to tie into our school goals,” said Wallwork.
There are some limitations on how schools may spend the funds. According to Utah.gov, a school cannot use School Land Trust Program funds to cover administration costs, construction and maintenance of facilities, or to pay for athletics or non-academic activities.
Utah’s Trust Lands Administration manages the state trust lands fund. According to their website, trustlands.utah.gov, the organization manages 3.4 million acres of school trust lands. Money for the fund comes from energy development, real estate planning, and surface resource use. Money is deposited into the Permanent School Fund, created by the Utah legislature in 1994. It has grown from $50 million since its creation in 1994 to approximately $3.2 billion today. “Public schools are not the only beneficiary, but they are by far the biggest. Public schools receive almost 96% of the funding generated by our agency. The 3.4 million acres include the other beneficiaries too,” said Marla Kennedy, Director of Communications and Governmental Affairs for the Utah Trust Lands Administration.
“This perpetual endowment for public schools benefits students with annual distributions from the fund while the balance grows in perpetuity,” according to the Utah Trust Lands Administration website. “Each year, capital gains, interest, and dividends are distributed to every school in the state based on student enrollment numbers.”
In November, voters approved Amendment B, which increased the amount of money allowed to be pulled from state trust lands for use in public schools from 4% to 5%. However, the resulting increase will not affect school budgets until the 2026-27 school year.
