SALT LAKE CITY — The finance committee on Sept. 22 asked staff to draft legislative and rule changes aimed at streamlining responsibilities for School Community Councils and to work with legislators to secure funding for an office specialist in the School Land Trust program.

Why it matters: The School Land Trust program provides local school councils with state distributions derived from the permanent school trust. The committee was presented a multi‑part request from Paula Plant, director of the School Children’s Trust, that asked the board to authorize staff to pursue code and rule changes to reduce duplicative or outdated requirements and to seek a sponsored appropriation that would support an additional office specialist for Trust administration.

Plant said the advisory committee will review sections of code that have accumulated responsibilities for councils and return recommendations on code and rule changes. “We have lots of people who say, ‘that’s a great job for the school community council; let’s have them do that,’” she told the committee, summarizing a motivation to streamline council duties so councils have manageable workloads tied to clear responsibilities.

Formal action: The finance committee voted to recommend that the full board consider directing staff to evaluate code and rule changes and to seek legislative funding for an office specialist for the School Land Trust program. The motion passed with three votes in favor and one abstention (committee record notes an abstention by a member).

What happens next: Staff said they will follow up with legislators and the trust advisory committee to draft recommended code and rule edits and pursue a fiscal proposal reflecting the requested specialist position. The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the full board for consideration.

Sources: Remarks by Paula Plant, Director of the School Children’s Trust, and the finance committee motion and roll call during the Sept. 22 USBE Finance Committee meeting.