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Finance committee recommends adoption of FY2027 public education budget totaling about $6.9 billion
Summary
The committee recommended the Utah State Board of Education adopt a FY2027 budget of roughly $6.9 billion (excluding certain non‑lapsing balances and local proceeds), highlighting a 4.2% WPU increase, a reallocated literacy program, and one‑time investments including cybersecurity and a school improvement pilot.
Assistant Superintendent Deborah Jacobson presented the finance committee with the board’s recommended FY2027 budget, which budgets roughly $6.9 billion for public education (the figure excludes beginning/ending non‑lapsing balances and local proceeds). Jacobson said the vast majority of the appropriation is flow‑through funding for school districts, charters and identified grants.
Key highlights in the presentation included a statutory increase in the WPU value of roughly 4.2 percent (bringing the WPU to about $4,870), a reallocation that consolidates several literacy programs into a single related‑to‑basic literacy intervention line, and one‑time appropriations such as a $4.5 million comprehensive school improvement pilot and a $28 million multi‑year cybersecurity infusion. Jacobson noted that some new one‑time priorities came through Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 3 and that certain items (for example, a school‑bus internet appropriation) may have been vetoed by the governor and will be noted in the May board packet.
Committee members asked for clearer breakdowns showing how much of the overall increase is driven by state, local and federal components and requested additional details for public presentation. After discussion, Vice Chair Cole Kelly moved that the committee recommend adoption of the FY2027 state fiscal year budget. The committee voted by voice; the motion passed unanimously and the recommendation will go to the full board.
