School Land Trust Funding

In the newspaper last week there was an article published by the Utah Trust Lands Administration. The article discussed how Wayne and Garfield County Schools will receive $253,805 through the School and Institute Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) program. SITLA manages the money generated on the 3.3 million acres of school land sections in the State of Utah. The School Trust lands principle funding has grown from $18 million (1983) to $1.8 billion (2014). The principal funds generated from the school land sections are never spent, only the interest and dividends are distributed to support public schools. The School Trust Lands are not generated from taxes; they create revenue by utilizing the school land sections in the State of Utah. Schools in Garfield School District will receive approximately $139,127 for the 2014-2015 school year. The funding is based on student enrollment in each school. Schools must develop individualized school improvement plans tied to increasing student academics. To access the funds from the State, the school community councils and the Garfield School Board must approve the plans. School Community Councils must include more parents than staff members and oversee the expenditures of the Trust Land funds. The School improvement plans are available on the schools web pages or at http://www.schoollandtrust.org/. The projected funding for each school is as follows in the Garfield School District.

Antimony $2,842 Boulder $1,197

Bryce Valley High $19,597 Bryce Valley Elementary $23,038

Escalante High $10,622 Escalante Elementary $11,968

Panguitch Middle $11,070 Panguitch High $19,897

Panguitch Elementary $38,896

I would encourage you to ask members of the school community councils or the school administrator about their school improvement plan and where they plan to spend the School Trust Lands to improve student academics in the schools.

–Superintendent Ben Dalton