Audit: School community councils information unclear and unavailable to public

SALT LAKE CITY — Information about school community councils and council elections is too often unclear and unavailable to the public, according to a legislative audit released Thursday.

Under state law, every public school (charters excluded) needs to have a school community council comprised of teachers and parents. Councils are tasked with creating school improvement plans to address academic needs and allocating funds from the interest and dividends of the School Land Trust program. Council members are elected by parents whose children attend the school, and can serve up to three two-year terms.

The audit commissioned by the Legislature found many schools weren't following election procedures and weren't posting public information about the councils on school websites. That's because, in part, most council candidates went uncontested, legislative auditors found. In a review of 52 schools, the audit found 62 percent didn't need to hold elections because every candidate was uncontested.

"We question if parents fully understand that they can have a direct impact on meeting their particular school's critical academic needs," the report from the Legislative Auditor General states. The audit found every school in the state receives between $25,000 to $41,000 on average that the councils are tasked with allocating.

Several principals surveyed said there was little to no interest from parents for council positions, and very few voted in the elections. The audit recommended schools more clearly state the influence parents can have by posting the dollar amount in Trust Land dollars the school receives on the school website.

The audit also found many schools had not posted contact information for their school community members on their websites. State law that went into effect in May 2011 requires council members' names, email addresses and phone numbers appear on the site.

"We are unsure why this information is not readily available, although it is currently required in statute," the audit states.

State Superintendent Larry Shumway wrote in response to the audit, "We strongly support schools and districts in being diligent about the various noticing requirements to parents and posting all of the information related to councils in a prominent place on school and district websites."

A statute related to a parent's ability to serve on a council if they hold an educator job in the district may also be unclear. A new law passed last session states teachers and other educators can't fill a "parent" slot on a council at their child's school even if they're employed at another school.