At the end of January during the Utah legislative general session, Utah Board of Education members stood before legislators with two proposed plans regarding budget cuts. The first of which only proposed $37 million in cuts, a far cry from the $163 million that lawmakers initially requested. 

Sen. Lincoln Fillmore (R-South Jordan) responded by telling board members their proposal was “not even close.” 

The Utah State legislature often requests state agencies to reassess funding, meaning this isn’t necessarily uncharted territory for the Utah Board of Education. This year in particular, the legislature requested all state agencies to outline the impact of a potential 5% funding reduction. The legislature did, however, specify that the Utah Board of Education would not need to propose a full 5% cut figure. For context, the overall funding budget for Utah education is $5.9 billion. A cut of 5% would therefore result in a loss of $295 million. Instead, the legislature asked the board to propose a plan equaling $163 million in cuts.

Fillmore further expressed his frustrations when he stated, “I don’t know why you would come to us with this massive one-time reduction and say, ‘This is part of our plan.’” 

On the other hand, many Utah Board of Education members seem just as displeased, with several expressing their dissatisfaction with lawmakers. Prior to the board members appearing in front of legislators, an hours long Utah Board of Education meeting was held to discuss the funding cuts. Board member Erin Longacre spoke passionately about the issue, saying, “I want the legislatures to walk through the halls of these schools, and you tell those kids what programs you’re going to cut. Not happening. You find somewhere else to cut things. You look under every single rock in Utah, and you make cuts. Not in education. Not for our kids.”

Fast forward to the proposal meeting, Amanda Bollinger, vice chair of the Utah Board of Education, responded to Fillmore by saying she realized the initial plan didn’t get them to “where they needed to be.”

The acknowledgment of the initial bill’s shortcoming was then followed by a presentation of the second proposed plan. This plan began with the same figure of $37 million and then added on a sweeping 6% reduction across all remaining school programs to achieve the overall goal. Many board members felt this would be the most equitable way to achieve the necessary funding cut figure. This included cuts to programs that fund student mental health support, literacy and special education.

The decision to cut literacy funding comes amid newly released data that indicates half of Utah’s young students are unable to read at the appropriate grade level. The data comes from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. As of 2026, only one school district in the entire state, Park City School District, was able to reach 70% literacy proficiency, reporting 70.1% in 2025. Many other districts, including Salt Lake, weren’t able to achieve even 50% proficiency.

The initial response from government officials seemed impassioned, as they vowed to address the literacy issue aggressively with policy changes. This includes Utah’s Early Literacy Outcomes Improvement Act (SB 127, 2022) which aims to address these challenges by setting a statewide goal of 70% third-grade reading proficiency by 2027 by strengthening supports. It then begs the question why literacy is being specifically targeted with funding cuts. That specific part of the overall cut proposals would result in slashing $10.6 million worth in software licenses for early literacy promotion.

The Utah public has also had strong reactions to the prospect of funding being diverted heavily from special education programs. One of these concerned constituents is Kristen Floyd, a licensed therapist and executive director of Ability Inclusion Services. 

“Anybody that has experienced balancing budgets and strategic planning knows that there can be some severe ramifications by trying to plan something in just a couple hours,” Floyd said. “So to make these kinds of decisions with just moments to decide, I think is reckless.”

Her concerns further touched on how these cuts would impact disability scholarships, which are in place to help families with disabled students gain access to treatment and programs outside of school.

“I’m really concerned and families should be concerned. It’s our families and our kids and vulnerable individuals that reside in Utah that are going to ultimately feel this impact,” Floyd said.

The proposed 92% reduction to disability scholarship programs would impact funding efforts by decreasing the allotted funding figure from $4 million to $300,000.

“Our disability situation in Utah is already grossly underfunded,” Floyd said. “Now we’re going to cut it again, where we’ve been asking for rate increases or services to be increased for these individuals.”

Most board members don’t seem frustrated by the prospect of having to make cuts, again, such is routine. For many board members the frustration lies in how quickly the state asked for budgeting proposals to be turned around, offering less than a month for board members to assess, deliberate and propose.

It all began when the Utah Board of Education received a letter from the chairs of the Legislature's Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee, asking members to come up with recommendations to reduce the budget by 5%, or $295.8 million. Scott Jones, the Utah Board of Education deputy superintendent of operations, later clarified to the board that the recommendations had to total around $163 million.

Still, tensions were high as the hours long deliberation left many board members feeling rushed and overwhelmed.

“I say this with all due respect, frankness and honesty: I think this whole process has been totally unfair to the board. We found out six days ago that we're supposed to make a cut of almost $300 million, and we're supposed to come up with a list (of programs). There's panic across the state because of this," Longacre said.

Some board members also feel strongly that the legislature often fails to work in a collaborative nature to reach solutions. “I want the legislature to come to the table with us and engage with us through the legislative process,” board member Sarah Reale said. “Oftentimes they’re passing bills and legislation without even consulting with the state school board. It gets really frustrating year after year to keep seeing that happen.”

The final decision regarding education funding cuts will be determined by the end of Utah’s legislative general session which is slated to conclude March 6.