Politics & Government
District 11 candidates, Hutchinson and Nuttall debate future of Utah schools
Rob Shelton | Lehi Free Press
Two Republican candidates vying for Utah State Board of Education District 11 argued last Wednesday over local control, education funding and the fallout from recent school district splits during a debate at Lehi Elementary.
Terry Hutchinson of Alpine and Tracy Nuttall of American Fork faced off in the hour-long forum, answering questions from a panel and from audience members. The seat covers communities across northern Utah County, including American Fork and Lehi.
Nuttall, an education attorney and legislative liaison for the Utah State Tax Commission, pointed to the Alpine School District split as the defining issue of the race. “The split is the biggest thing that we’re dealing with in our district right now,” she said. “I think people felt like they didn’t have a voice, and that their voice was taken away.”
Hutchinson, who spent eight years on a local school board in southern Utah before moving to Alpine, agreed that the split creates challenges, particularly for the emerging Timpanogos district, which he said faces a shrinking student base and shifting demographics. But he called the division ultimately positive. “You don’t want it to be so big that it’s not responsive to the parents,” he said of Alpine’s former 96,000-student enrollment.
Public education faces significant funding pressure after two consecutive legislative sessions with budget cuts, and both candidates acknowledged tighter times ahead. Hutchinson said he’d prioritize classroom basics first and trim administrative costs if needed. “If something has to be cut, it’s sometimes the things that go around outside,” he said.
Nuttall called taxpayer dollars “sacred” and said she would push to better document public education’s return on investment for the state economy. She also argued that the board needs to reorganize its statutory framework to find efficiencies, work she said she started during a legislative recodification project. On the direct question of property taxes, both candidates noted the state board has no authority over local property tax decisions. Nuttall acknowledged budget shortfalls tied to the district split are “interesting circumstances” but stopped short of endorsing any specific approach.
The sharpest exchange of the night came on the question of how the state board should work with the Utah Legislature. Hutchinson argued the board has too often kept legislators at arm’s length, and that the friction results in more bills which micromanage local schools. “There’s a reason for this,” he told the audience, describing what he says to fellow board members. “It’s because you’re not doing what they think you should be doing.”
Nuttall pushed back hard. “I don’t think a punitive relationship with the legislature is a healthy relationship,” she said. She argued her background, drafting public education bills at the Capitol and monitoring legislation for the tax commission, positions her to communicate what districts are actually doing rather than simply deferring to legislative pressure.
Questions surfaced a recurring theme: classroom safety and discipline. Nuttall called for more parent involvement and said teachers are reporting escalating behavior problems. “I’m hearing a lot about discipline issues and violence in the classroom,” she said, adding that teachers need more flexibility to address issues before they spiral.
Hutchinson was more direct. He said schools need state backing to keep disruptive students from remaining in classrooms where they endanger classmates and teachers. “Let’s not put them in the classroom with all the other students,” he said. “We have to be more proactive about it.”
Both candidates said state assessments serve an important purpose but acknowledged public resistance is near-universal. Hutchinson said the board should tailor testing more carefully to different student populations, pointing to career and technical education students as an example. Nuttall said she wants tests that work for teachers, parents and students simultaneously, goals she admitted can seem incompatible but said aren’t.
On attendance, Nuttall cited a recent state board initiative as a step in the right direction, noting that post-COVID habits such as finishing coursework via Canvas from home have eroded in-school attendance. “You’ve got to learn how to do that,” she said, regarding the discipline of showing up. Hutchinson agreed, calling the current attendance laws inadequate. “They keep nibbling around the edges,” he said of the Legislature’s annual attempts to fix the problem.
The debate was co-sponsored by the Hinckley Institute of Politics, United Way of Salt Lake, Utah PTA, the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools and the Deseret News. The full debate can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYpGeyNJ0Wk&t=703s.
