Dr. Molly Hart, Utah’s state superintendent of public instruction, said in a Connect Canyons podcast interview that her chief priority is getting educators, parents and policymakers working together with a shared focus on students’ success.

Hart, who first joined Utah’s education system in 2012 as a Canyons School District principal, told the podcast host that her experience at Mount Jordan Middle School and Albion Middle School shaped her approach. “I would not be here if it weren't for my experience in Canyons,” Hart said, citing collaborative work with parents, teachers and students in those schools.

Why it matters: Hart leads the Utah State Board of Education’s implementing agency and described that agency as the state’s distributor of both federal and state school funding. “The agency is the agency that distributes all funding for schools,” she said, adding that the office also collects and shares student data with the legislature and communities to inform decisions.

On priorities, Hart said coordination is essential. “One of the biggest opportunities is to get everybody rowing in the same direction,” she said, using a boating metaphor to describe misaligned efforts. She stressed a “North Star” of student readiness for the next step in learning and life as the guiding principle for evaluating new initiatives, including technology such as artificial intelligence.

Hart said districts must be cautious about “jumping on any sort of bandwagon” and emphasized balancing innovation with core instructional goals. “We need to think about what do we want students to be able to do or handle, and then we think about the tools,” she said, adding that the state must decide which AI uses help students and which uses require safeguards.

The interview also touched on nonacademic challenges students face. Hart said Utah children are confronting growing needs, including homelessness, and that policy responses must center student readiness and support.

Hart described her leadership style as inclusive and based on listening to multiple perspectives — classroom teachers, superintendents, parents, community organizations and employers — and then building transparent plans. “My job is to bring those voices together, bring a multiplicity of voices together, and then serve all of them as an educational leader in the state,” she said.

Background details Hart provided in the interview: she began her teaching career outside Utah after attending Michigan State University, later served as a principal in Canyons School District, spent time leading Utah Summit Academy (a K–12 charter network with campuses in Salt Lake County) and served on the Utah State Board of Education for nine years. The host noted Hart had been on the job since July 1; the interview did not specify the year of appointment.

Hart said recognition from Canyons — the district’s Apex Award for elected official of the year — was meaningful because it connected her earlier Canyons work to her later service as an elected official. She described the award as “full circle” validation for work done on behalf of teachers and students.

On practical duties, Hart said the state superintendent’s office must provide the board with information and resources so the board can make policy decisions and interface productively with the legislature. She described the office’s responsibilities as multifaceted: leading an agency under the direction of an elected board, managing funding flows, and maintaining focus on students.

The host and Hart discussed the need to hear from varying viewpoints and to avoid making decisions in isolation. Hart said that while classroom teachers are essential sources of classroom-level insight, she also consults district leaders and other stakeholders to form policy and implementation plans.

The interview did not include formal votes, policy changes or specific budget actions. Hart described current work in broad priorities — coordination, data transparency and student-centered decision-making — and said she is working with legislators and agency staff to translate those priorities into action.

Hart closed by reiterating that her role is both to execute an elected board’s vision and to keep the focus on children: “It’s my job is to keep the focus on the children of Utah.”