State board approves Prevent Child Abuse Utah contract after debate over student surveys and data privacy

The State Board of Education on a voice vote approved a five-year contract with Prevent Child Abuse Utah to provide student prevention curriculum and follow-up measurement, after members raised concerns about a short student survey, data privacy and access to curriculum materials.

The approval moves agenda item 11.1.0.7 forward after a motion by Member Earl and a second; the motion passed 11 in favor, three opposed (Member Green, Member Longacre and Member Boggess) and one absent. Member Earl asked that staff report back on how privacy protections were implemented.

Board context: The contract is structured as a multi-year arrangement that staff described as roughly $1 million per year, tied to legislative funding and expansion. Board members said the contract is time-sensitive because the legislature expects implementation and outcomes reporting for fiscal-year funding and staff said the vendor needs time to scale statewide. Staff said the RFP required a method to measure effectiveness and the contractor proposed short follow-up surveys as that method.

What the vendor will measure: Tanya Alvernoz, coordinator for prevention, described the follow-up as “more of a comprehensive check and retention of the message check.” She said, “PCAU conducts follow-up surveys on 1 classroom each, second, fourth, and sixth grade at 10 selected schools statewide. Surveys are administered 3 months after initial instruction. Surveys are sent via, forms…