This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Many Utah schools are not giving parents enough information about school community council elections, according to a legislative audit released Thursday.
Legislative auditors found that most of the 38 schools they sampled do not provide all the information to parents required by law, such as dates and times of school community council elections and lists of open council positions. School community councils are groups of parents and school employees who decide how to spend a school's share of money from the School LAND Trust Program.
Auditors recommended that school district offices work to better ensure school principals are delivering complete election notifications to parents.
Auditors also suggested, among other things, that lawmakers re-examine a law passed last year that prohibits educators from serving as parent members of community councils at schools within the districts for which they work. According to the State Office of Education, at least 130 parent members lost their ability to serve because of that new law, causing frustration, especially because it can be difficult to get people involved anyway at some schools.
The audit also found that most of the schools sampled don't hold elections because the council seats are uncontested.