Lawmakers struggled this session to leave the public education budget unscathed.

But ultimately, lawmakers and the governor worked together late in the session to produce a $2.9 billion basic education budget for next school year that largely keeps education intact, cutting schools by roughly $9 million and not giving them money for an additional 11,000 new students expected next school year. The cuts will come largely from funds for new buildings, areas that will leave the decisions up to districts and other programs such as a scholarship program for teachers and the state's electronic high school, among other things.

The base amount the state spends per student, $2,577, will remain the same despite no funding for the additional 11,000 students. Districts will absorb that lack of funds in other areas. Lawmakers also filled a nearly $300 million hole in the education budget from this year with ongoing money so schools won't face a funding cliff in future years.

At the last minute Thursday evening, lawmakers found money to help pay for new school library books and for part of the scholarship program for teachers.

"Its clear to me that the legislature held to its priorities, that public education was its highest priority," said State Superintendent Larry Shumway.

The threat of cuts to education early in the session inspired a bevy of creative budget fixes from lawmakers. But many, such as making 12th grade optional, eliminating busing for some junior high and high school students and putting ads on school buses proved too far fetched for most.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Senate attempted to, within the education budget bill, SB2, change the way charter schools are funded by making districts slowly take on more of the funding burden for them from the state, but that ultimately failed after many lawmakers said it was too big of a policy change to make in just two days. Instead, a governor's commission on education will work in coming months on the issue.

Lawmakers also wrapped up two bills Thursday designed to financially help the struggling Jordan School District and other districts. One of those bills, SB175 will also end a law in 2016 that has required school districts in Salt Lake County to send some of their property tax revenues to the Jordan School District.

Those two bills followed an earlier, controversial attempt to help Jordan by shifting some property tax revenue from the Canyons District to Jordan, but that bill failed in committee. A bill that would have tweaked sex education in Utah also died earlier this session after a committee refused to hear the bill despite months of work between the sponsor and various groups on it.