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Posted in School Community Council.

Community Councils

Every public school in Utah has a School Community Council which is an advisory body formed of parents and school employees. The majority of members are parents.  Parents represent parent perspectives on issues and in votes made by the council. The School Community Council also develops plans for improving the school using funds from the School LAND Trust Plan (the amount varies but is usually between $20,000 and $50,000 per year).  

School Community Council Responsibilities:

  1. Develop a School Improvement Plan
  2. Develop a School LAND Trust Plan
  3. Review school U-PASS data 
  4. Participate in the development of the Professional Development Plan
  5. Develop a Child Access Routing Plan 
  6. Advise the school administration on local school issues.
  7. Provide an opportunity for issues of concern in the community to be presented to the school administration.

*The plans produced by the School Community Council must be approved by the district school board.

The Council Members

  • Principal
  • Faculty/staff members
  • Parent/guardian members
  • The size of the council may be determined by each individual school. Most councils have at least five members.
  • The number of parent/guardian members must exceed the number of faculty/staff members including the principal.

School Land Trust Funding

There are 3.3 million acres of school trust lands in Utah granted at statehood to support schools. These lands generate revenue, all of which is saved in the permanent State School Fund. This fund is invested and the interest and dividends are distributed to every public school in the state based on enrollment figures. School Community Councils prepare plans, approved by local school boards, that identify an academic need and a proposed solution using the dollars that the school received from the School LAND Trust Fund.

How are Council members selected?

All council members, except the principal, are elected or volunteer to run for election.  In the event of vacancies, each group appoints replacement members from within its ranks.  Remember, if you'd like to become a member of a School Community Council, contact your school's principal.  The parents on the community council represent all student populations which need to be included in the conversation about what is best for students.

This Information came from: http://utaheducationfacts.com/index.php/tools-for-parents/school-community-councils