LEHI — Utah educators brace for an expected boom in school-age children over the next 15 years. But it wasn't just teachers who gathered this week at Thanksgiving Point for the Utah Education Deans' Colloquium.

District and university administrators, legislators, economists — even Utah Gov. Olene Walker — showed up Thursday to share forecasts for the future and options for handling larger student populations with tight budgets.

"There's just no way we are going to avoid this increase in school-age population," University of Utah economist Pam Perlich said. "It's not really a matter of if, but it's a matter of when and at what pace."

Though growth has plateaued over the last 10 years, it has picked up this year and is expected to surge around 2014.

The rise is due to Utah's large households, high fertility rates, a boom in young adults starting families and increased migration from Latin America and foreign countries.

Since 2000, 40 percent of the population growth in Utah came from minority populations. In Salt Lake County, that number is 92 percent.

Increased diversity in Utah classrooms and subsequent challenges, like language barriers, create an additional challenge for educators dealing with booming growth, Jordan School District Superintendent Barry Newbold said.

Educational institutions will also have to find ways to physically accommodate expanded student populations.

Though Utah's economic future is looking brighter and state per-pupil spending is expected to increase, building new schools will be difficult on limited local funds.

As a result, Alpine School District Business Administrator Rob Smith said, school districts will need to become creative.

"I think we need to target funds in areas that have high-growth needs," Smith said. "I think we need to look at other cost sources and other federal sources."

More than 78,000 additional teachers will also be needed over the next 20 years to fill vacancies and oversee new classrooms, said Nick Eastmont of the University of Utah.

However, female teachers are leaving to raise their families, male teachers are eyeing better-paying administrative positions and prospective teachers are dwindling.

Newbold blames the decline on increased requirements created by the federal government's No Child Left Behind program.

"All the requirements to get into the teaching profession are working counter to the kinds of needs that we have," Newbold said.

"And current teachers are looking at years of certification and endorsement. And yet I think about the beginning teacher salary . . . and I think, 'How long are people going to go through this for $27,000 a year?' "

While economic variables and immigration rates will determine the magnitude of the boom, Perlich said a rapid rise will happen no matter what so educators must plan for it now.

"The only way to get rid of these extra children is to ship them out because they're already in the pipes," Perlich said. "They're already here. They're already born."

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E-mail: lwarner@desnews.com