[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6151938,"mediaKeyId","5500868-6cdbc02d216b2c61975b3134cd0b1ab5","parentId",5500868,"title","State auditors: Tooele School District shows low achievement, policy gaps and accounting issues; recommendations offered","audioSeconds",3178,"startMs",3178000,"endMs",-1,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5500868-6cdbc02d216b2c61975b3134cd0b1ab5&start=3178&end=0","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5500868-6cdbc02d216b2c61975b3134cd0b1ab5/thumbnail_3178000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6151938/Utah/State-auditors-Tooele-School-District-shows-low-achievement-policy-gaps-and-accounting-issues-recommendations-offered","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6151938-c4468f356574bd3398347b1e447369df/orig.mp4?Expires=1773665457&Signature=ZMKwja1XINYy8uKXbG4OeIB16ojWQRlEx1RsWLQLkYz0F6L~M-3CxaN2hi6yli~BmB5G9vtM2YhdO8evDwLGC8NDYhuiJRs-WH2fvYoR8gUNb~lhemGHrm4PIF9InAahEuCG882E5BSwvhKmd4oeUs3Vo2B1-wGbvCUNtaUpOTIqSmOTq8eYdovqZI~PP20OCBhIMAxtf9YKp4H-~BN5Q0nuIdmXmt7adviSTQSDk5V0y1ASspO9bOf7e1~LmYoM1Vncy17QFhCY~keEzDSQHimeF8B7CRx~T5fmIN26ZMjq5f80QuKRjphLFk4mt4li8yyS51Q~W2d-4vyiuIWvjA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-07-23T16:36:42Z","article","The Utah Office of the State Auditor presented a multi‑chapter performance audit to the Tooele School Board finding that student outcomes fall short of state targets and that the district has governance, policy-compliance and accounting weaknesses that should be addressed.

Why it matters: The auditors tied recommendations to student achievement, saying organizational changes and clearer accountability are necessary to improve learning outcomes. The report recommends changes that would affect district governance, human-resources practices, school leadership development and the handling of funds linked to education service providers.

Kate Minshew, Utah auditor general, introduced the audit team and emphasized the district leadership’s cooperative approach: “The leadership of the school district was extremely professional, very collaborative,” she said. The audit team—Deputy Auditor General Darren Underwood and audit manager Abigail (“Abby”) Armstrong—then summarized findings across four chapters.

Student achievement: The audit shows Tooele under state targets on several measures, including RISE/ACT and graduation rates. The auditors recommended creating an explicit operational focus on academics by establishing an assistant superintendent for academics (or equivalent structure), developing K–12 excellence plans, and improving monitoring to make student achievement a standing board agenda item. “There’s a lot of work to be done,” said Dr. Reitzel, the district’s director of teaching and learning.

Governance and culture: The audit flagged inconsistent board attention to student-achievement metrics and broader concerns about policy compliance. The auditors reported a culture-level issue after conducting interviews, surveys and a targeted HR review, and recommended steps to reinforce policy adherence and clear roles for area directors and leadership.

Human-resources files: In a random sample of 100 job applications, auditors found that 75 percent did not contain specified documentation such as proof of high-school graduation, food-handler permits or transcripts. Abby Armstrong said the 75 percent figure came from that sample and was supplemented by interviews indicating broader compliance problems. The audit recommended a plan to remedy missing documentation and to review HR procedures and job descriptions.

Principals and leadership pipeline: The audit highlighted principal quality as a major driver of school performance and recommended strengthening principal development, aligning area directors’ work to instructional leadership, and reconsidering how area directors’ duties are assigned so they can focus on principal supervision and instructional improvement.

OpenEd / MyTech finances and SOEP funds: Auditors said the district’s prior contract with MyTech (rebranded as OpenEd) and similar education-service-provider revenue streams were not accounted for with enough granularity, which contributed to budget shortfalls in the affected program. The auditors recommended clearer, separate accounting for contract-based revenues and cautioned treating those funds as effectively one‑time money rather than stable, ongoing revenue for recurring expenses such as salaries.

District reaction and next steps: Superintendent (Dr.) Ernst and board members repeatedly thanked the auditors and said the district is already working on some recommendations. The audit team said the office will follow up on recommendations; Minshew noted that audit teams typically follow up every three years until recommendations are implemented. “We do follow-up on our recommendations,” she said.

The board discussed framing accountability in a constructive way to avoid undermining employee morale while still ensuring consistent policy compliance and progress on academic goals. Several board members said they view the audit as a road map and noted that district staff have already prepared written responses to audit recommendations.

The meeting concluded with routine closing motions; the auditors said they will remain available for follow-up questions.

This report focuses on the auditors’ findings and the board’s recorded discussion; no formal district policy changes were adopted at this meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","July 29, 2025 - TCSD Board of Education Work Session","oneSentenceSummary","State auditors told the Tooele School Board that student achievement measures fall short of state targets and identified governance, HR and accounting weaknesses; they recommended a set of leadership, policy and accounting changes to improve outcomes.","taxTitle","Tooele School District, School Boards, Utah","taxId",65991,"location","Utah","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6151942,"Former Utah legislator: state funding formula leaves Tooele School District among lowest-funded",1598,212000,1810000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5500868-6cdbc02d216b2c61975b3134cd0b1ab5&start=212&end=1810","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5500868-6cdbc02d216b2c61975b3134cd0b1ab5/thumbnail_212000.jpg","/articles/6151942/Utah/Former-Utah-legislator-state-funding-formula-leaves-Tooele-School-District-among-lowest-funded","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6151942-4a4aa40ac139ea1c2901d053d6fe13d4/orig.mp4?Expires=1773665457&Signature=erZ7pLBLsW9gHKQEg7YWF9wKl7d066BSkVlhdz1VVI~sPdUQYsFo~Ts~o97YPauQ7ANWFo~oBNSWBgsYvT9ex-WFODfI9pnBBubN3rtj3Z1iWdamy-C--I0IZnGk294JmpDSSIXsZrVI~CjvN1gPqnSO5XOgkRMJHg8w1e-HHg5lgjKH0bSO4qQfJxGmDMkRStvAdmBO0SOyEgAQIiQl964kYVP8N0A6oTW1JS7FoGnpd3XQ1JLXqEgI5VoTfnNc4STxSMd~xAwyoqtuFBCBUOaeiiecsAgf1Aay-bKyKaHuN5vU1i0qDiwTez27lqehlFg3AgH~2UADLobuLVSS7Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Howard Stephenson, a former Utah state legislator and long-time school-funding analyst, told the Tooele School District board at a work session that state policy choices have left Tooele with one of the lowest taxable values per student in Utah and a growing gap in per-student funding compared with affluent districts such as Park City.

Why it matters: Stephenson said the imbalance makes it harder for Tooele to pay competitive teacher salaries and maintain instructional programs. He presented state-level data and scenarios that show substantial sums would be needed to bring low-valuation districts up to the levels of wealthier districts.

Stephenson said the 1995–96 decision by the Legislature to cut the statewide basic property-tax levy in half reduced a stable source of school funding and opened the way for widely divergent local levies. “Property tax is the most stable source for funding education,” he said. “To drop the statewide basic levy that far basically made our funding less stable.”

He showed data from the Kem Gardner Institute and the Utah Taxpayers Association indicating Tooele’s taxable value per student was roughly $415, while Park City’s was roughly $9 million per student. Stephenson noted Tooele now has one of the highest local tax rates in the state—about 60.85 increments—yet that rate yields little per student because the assessed valuation per pupil is low.

Stephenson presented three funding scenarios the state could pursue to increase equalization: a modest step to roughly $108 per student per WPU increment (costed at about $359 million from the school fund), a larger step to $178 per increment (about $1.3 billion), and an ambitious move to roughly $271 per increment (about $2.7 billion). He said the state has steadily increased equalization appropriations, but growth among high-valuation districts has outpaced those increases.

On a statutorily required half-percent transfer intended to support local-levy equalization, Stephenson said Senator Fillmore’s 2023 bill would require dedicating 0.5 percent of total WPU appropriations to a local-levy growth account, but that the Legislature has not consistently set aside that amount in practice. “If they were to follow what’s already in statute and set aside the half percent, it’d be about $22,000,000,” he said, noting that amount would be distributed to receiving districts and not taken from lower-need districts.

Stephenson discussed options districts use nationwide to address funding gaps and said many states have seen litigation over adequacy and equity. “Forty-five states, well, it might be 46 now, have had lawsuits,” he said, but he added he would prefer a legislative solution achieved through education and coordinated advocacy rather than a court-driven remedy: “I would like to avoid a lawsuit because I think our problem has been that there hasn’t been enough education of local school boards, of the superintendents and business administrators, but most of all, education of legislators.”

Board members asked practical questions about steps Tooele should take. Board member Todd Thompson asked whether the district should litigate or press legislators; Stephenson recommended an organized, unified legislative advocacy effort led by superintendents and school boards representing the districts that would receive equalization dollars.

Stephenson also emphasized that low assessed valuation per student is often a function of local economic structure rather than household income. “It doesn’t mean that people in Tooele are low income,” he said. “What it means is that the tax base because you are a bedroom community without industrial base, the federal government owns almost all of the county… you just don’t get taxes from that.”

The presentation concluded with board members asking for the slides; Stephenson said he would send them to the superintendent.

What the board discussed next and what it directed staff to do were not formal actions recorded in the meeting minutes; the session moved on to the state auditors’ presentation after questions and discussion.","Howard Stephenson, a former Utah state legislator, told the Tooele School Board that state funding choices since the mid-1990s have left Tooele with one of the lowest assessed valuations per student in Utah, limiting how much local tax effort yields for schools.","actionData","errors"]

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State auditors: Tooele School District shows low achievement, policy gaps and accounting issues; recommendations offered

Former Utah legislator: state funding formula leaves Tooele School District among lowest-funded