Utah State Board of Education: Shaping Education in the State
The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) plays a crucial role in overseeing and guiding the public education system in Utah. This article provides an overview of the board's structure, responsibilities, and recent initiatives, shedding light on its impact on education across the state.
Structure and Composition
The general control and supervision of the public education system shall be vested in a State Board of Education. The membership of the board shall be established and elected as provided by statute. The board is composed of 15 members elected to four-year terms. These members represent one of the state's 15 education districts, whose borders are redrawn every 10 years to ensure fair representation. Elections to the Utah State Board of Education are held in every even-numbered year and are staggered to maintain continuity. Every year, the board elects from among its members a chair and between one and three vice-chairs, ensuring leadership and direction for the board's activities.
Election Dynamics
Elections to the board are staggered. Elections to the Utah State Board of Education are held in every even-numbered year.
For example, the following elections are scheduled:
- Utah State Board of Education District 1: General election primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
- Utah State Board of Education District 2: General election primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
- Utah State Board of Education District 4: General election primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
- Utah State Board of Education District 5: General election primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
- Utah State Board of Education District 7: General election primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
- Utah State Board of Education District 8: General election primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
- Utah State Board of Education District 11: General election primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
- Utah State Board of Education District 14: General election primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
In some districts, primary elections were canceled due to candidates advancing without opposition. For instance, in 2024:
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- District 3: The Democratic and Utah Forward Party primaries were canceled, with Laura Johnson (Utah Forward Party) advancing.
- District 6: The Democratic and Republican primaries were canceled, with incumbent Carol Barlow Lear (D) advancing from the Democratic primary.
- District 7: The Democratic primary was canceled, with John Arthur (D) advancing.
- District 9: The Democratic and Republican primaries were canceled, with Will Shiflett (D) and Amanda Bollinger (R) advancing.
- District 10: The Democratic primary was canceled, with Deborah L. Gatrell (D) advancing.
- District 12: The Democratic and Republican primaries were canceled, with Cole Kelley (R) advancing.
- District 13: The Democratic primary was canceled.
- District 15: The Democratic primary was canceled.
Similar scenarios occurred in 2022 and 2020, indicating a trend of uncontested primaries in certain districts.
Responsibilities and Duties
The duties of the Utah State Board of Education are laid out in Title 53A, Chapter 1, Part 4 of the Utah Code. The Utah State Board of Education will set the general statewide conditions in which each student can excel, including equity of educational opportunities and culturally responsive practices to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
Filling Vacancies
The procedure for filling vacancies on the board is laid out in Section 20A-14-106 of the Utah Code. In the event of a vacancy occurring on the board, the governor nominates a candidate who meets the qualifications for board membership.
Compensation
Compensation for members of the Utah State Board of Education is defined in Section 53A-1-202 of the Utah Code. Members of the board are entitled to the same salary as members of the Utah State Legislature, adjusted to reflect the number of days the board is in session in a given year.
Utah's Leadership in AI Education
State education departments worried about the fast-paced disruption of artificial intelligence might look to Utah, which has been moving quickly and deliberately to integrate AI into its K-12 education system. Through strategic investment, cross-sector collaboration and statewide capacity building, the state has created a working model for how to operationalize AI in schools. Utah is emerging as a leader in artificial intelligence adoption at the K-12 level, which AI Education Specialist Matt Winters attributes to collaboration, infrastructure and a culture of innovation. He said the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) created his role to address the rapid rise of generative AI and guide schools through its implementation. In April 2024, USBE released a statewide AI framework to help localities develop their own policies and practices. More than half of public districts in the state now have an AI policy in place, Winters said. That August, Utah launched one of the country’s first statewide RFP processes for school AI tools. Through this process, any publicly funded school in the state can apply to join the statewide RFP and receive low-cost, vetted AI tools through state-negotiated contracts. While this process is normally time-consuming, Utah was able to put it together in just five months, Winters said.
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Beyond tools, Utah has invested in training and professional development. The state held six free AI summits in September 2024, bringing in nearly 700 educators from all of the state’s school districts, plus many charter schools and higher-education organizations, for hands-on professional development. Summits included opportunities to demo AI tools, talk with industry experts and provide feedback on future state initiatives. Another state initiative in Utah offers teachers a $200 stipend to complete AI training and submit lesson plans, which are being compiled into an open source library to support peer learning, Winters said. The goal is to create scalable subject- and grade-specific examples of how AI can support instruction. Winters said that participants in Utah’s AI professional development programs showed significant growth.
Utah’s momentum didn’t appear overnight. The state has spent years building the infrastructure and collaborative culture that made this level of coordination possible, Winters said. Thanks to long-term investments in the Utah Education Network , every public school in the state can have access to high-speed Internet for free. A recurring $20 million digital teaching and learning grant has helped districts secure devices, coaching and ed-tech tools. Initiatives like these are an important starting point for rolling out AI at scale, Winters said.
On the legal and policy side, the Utah Legislature established the Office of AI Policy in 2024, housed under the Department of Commerce. The office advises on legal and regulatory issues, writes mitigation plans when existing law lags behind AI use cases, and conducts original research on high-impact areas such as mental health bots and deepfakes.
With the framework and infrastructure in place, Utah is now focused on scaling its efforts. Current funding is enough to cover professional development and the lesson plan program for about 10 percent of Utah's teachers, or 2,600 total, and Winters said the goal is to reach 50 percent through additional grant funding. The open source lesson plan library is set to launch this fall to provide specific examples of AI integration. The state is also building AI literacy modules for grades K-6 and working with higher-education institutions to develop AI-aligned career and technical education courses. The state hopes to have complete course pathways in AI engineering, for example, available to students by 2027. The University of Utah is also planning a collaborative event called Hack the Future, set for May 22 and 23, to bring together education, policy and tech leaders to draft long-term plans for how Utah wants AI to function across sectors. For education agencies looking to replicate Utah’s work, Winters stressed the importance of cultivating a culture of innovation and expertise.
Recent Initiatives and Events
The Utah State Board of Education is actively involved in various initiatives and events aimed at improving education across the state.
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On February 12, 2026, families gathered at North Elementary School for a Regional Literacy Night focused on Empowering Families and Strengthening Literacy.
USBE was excited to welcome about 350 elementary school principals and literacy leaders from all over Utah for the final group of our change management learning sessions last week. These leaders came together to learn new ideas, share experiences, and talk about what works best for helping students become strong readers. School leaders and administrators are invited to attend Part 8 of USBE’s FREE Every Day Counts Webinar Series.
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