Michael Lee - The Salt Lake Tribune

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Erika George speaks at a "read-in" organized by Let Utah Read at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.

Utah advocates urge Gov. Cox to veto bill that would automatically ban certain books from schools statewide

By Michael Lee | February 28, 2024, 12:57 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Second graders in a class at Heber Valley Elementary School in Heber City on Wednesday, July 5, 2023. It could get easier for educators to obtain a teaching license in Utah through a new bill aimed at studying changes to current licensing programs.

Utah could see less-qualified teachers in schools through new bill

By Michael Lee | February 26, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Max Schachter, a parent of a child who was killed during a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., gives remarks during a school safety task force news conference at the Capitol in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024.

‘You can’t teach dead kids’: Parkland parents urge Utah lawmakers to pass school safety legislation

By Michael Lee | February 21, 2024, 12:54 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City School Board member Mohamed Baayd speaks during a school board meeting at West High School in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

‘Appalling’: Salt Lake City school board members slam Utah’s new anti-DEI bill

By Michael Lee | February 13, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Bianca Mittendorf, the Utah Education Association's director of equity and membership, in Ogden on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. When educators don't reflect the student population, there’s a “lack of cultural competence,” Mittendorf said.

The majority of Salt Lake City students aren’t white. Why are most of its teachers?

By Michael Lee | February 8, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nichole Moore, a third grade teacher at Aspen Elementary School in South Jordan, helps Nicolas Perez, 8, with his schoolwork on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. Utah lawmakers have proposed a handful of bills aimed at keeping teachers in the state.

Here’s how Utah lawmakers are trying to retain teachers

By Michael Lee | February 5, 2024, 4:17 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students let out of Desert Sky Elementary, Eagle Mountain’s new elementary school on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. A newly proposed “teacher empowerment” bill aims to give educators more control of in the classroom — and would allow them to ignore certain federal disciplinary guidance.

Utah teachers want to remove unruly kids from class more easily. Opponents say it could harm students.

By Michael Lee | February 1, 2024, 5:35 p.m.

(Michael Lee | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brian Conley, the Salt Lake City School District's director of boundaries and planning, listens to a parent during a public meeting about school closures on Sept. 12, 2023. A group of Salt Lake City parents argue that Conley had “serious conflicts of interest” while he led a study on school closures last year.

Conflict of interest? SLC district official who led closure study is married to principal at a spared school

By Michael Lee | January 26, 2024, 8:37 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Skyline High School students Sophia Cheng, left, and Adalayde Scott, are two of the students advocating for the Granite School District to commit to 100% clean electricity by 2030.

‘Next generation of climate leaders’: These Utah students are trying to get their school district to commit to clean energy

By Michael Lee | January 25, 2024, 5:41 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students in class at Butler Middle School, on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. A new Utah bill would require students to get parental consent before they can fill out certain “non-academic” surveys in class, which can be used to gather important public health data.

Utah learns about student health, identity through in-class surveys. Why this lawmaker wants to limit them.

By Michael Lee | January 24, 2024, 9:28 p.m.

(The Salt Lake Tribune) En el sentido de las agujas del reloj desde arriba a la izquierda: las escuelas primarias M. Lynn Bennion, Hawthorne, Mary W. Jackson y Riley cerrarán, luego de una votación de la junta del Distrito Escolar de Salt Lake City el martes 9 de enero de 2023.

4 escuelas de Salt Lake City están cerrando permanentemente. Esto es lo que puede pasar con los edificios.

By Michael Lee | January 23, 2024, 8:02 p.m.

(The Salt Lake Tribune) Clockwise from top left: M. Lynn Bennion Elementary, Hawthorne Elementary, Mary W. Jackson Elementary and Riley Elementary will all shut down, following a Salt Lake City School District board vote on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2023.

4 Salt Lake City schools are permanently closing. Here’s what may happen to the buildings.

By Michael Lee | January 23, 2024, 8:03 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) First lady Jill Biden speaks to educators and students at Hunter High School in West Valley City, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024.

First lady Jill Biden is in Utah again. Here’s why.

By Carmen Nesbitt | Michael Lee | January 17, 2024, 3:52 a.m.

(Google Maps) Davis School District headquarters. A former Davis School District employee hired to help investigate racial harassment complaints within the district filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday, alleging that the district subjected her to racial discrimination.

Woman hired to investigate racial harassment within Davis School District files lawsuit, accusing district of discriminating against her

By Michael Lee | January 10, 2024, 11:34 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Una mujer reacciona cuando los miembros de la junta del Distrito Escolar de Salt Lake City votan 4-3 para cerrar cuatro campus durante una reunión de la junta escolar en West High School en Salt Lake City el martes 9 de enero de 2024.

Es oficial: 4 escuelas primarias de Salt Lake City cerrarán, la junta escolar vota

By Michael Lee | January 10, 2024, 4:50 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A woman reacts as Salt Lake City School District board members vote 4-3 to close four campuses during a school board meeting at West High School in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

It’s official: 4 Salt Lake City elementary schools will close

By Michael Lee | January 10, 2024, 4:51 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City School District Superintendent Elizabeth Grant announces a recommendation to close four Salt Lake City elementary schools, during a meeting at Glendale Middle School, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. The school board could vote as early as Tuesday evening to shutter campuses.

Salt Lake City parents question how district chose schools ahead of potential campus closure vote

By Michael Lee | January 9, 2024, 12:58 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) A student checks his phone after school lets out at Centennial Jr. High School in Kaysville on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023.

At this Utah school, students helped shape a no-phone policy. And they like it.

By Michael Lee | January 2, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

(Illustration by Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)

Utah schools tried these 10 strategies to improve student outcomes — here’s what worked and what didn’t

By Carmen Nesbitt | Michael Lee | January 1, 2024, 5:23 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rowland Hall’s Lincoln Street campus has served grades six to 12 since 1984. The school plans to sell its aging Lincoln Street building near 9th and 9th ahead of a planned move.

Utah’s oldest school will leave 9th and 9th. Its 1921 building was made for a ’different era.’

By Michael Lee | December 27, 2023, 12:06 a.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Second grader Emmett Knight tries on frames at the vision clinic in Salt Lake City's Parkview Elementary on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. The new clinic offers optometry services to Salt Lake City students and their families. Care is free to those who qualify, but the clinic also accepts some kinds of insurance.

Salt Lake City students can get free glasses at this new vision clinic, inside an elementary school

By Michael Lee | December 11, 2023, 1:00 p.m.

(Michael Lee | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Council member Victoria Petro urges school board members to vote down the Salt Lake City School District's recommendation to close four elementary schools during a board meeting at West High School on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023.

‘Scary and overwhelming’: Students, parents plead to keep Salt Lake City schools open

By Michael Lee | December 8, 2023, 2:51 p.m.

(Davis School District) Davis School District appointed Michelle Barber as its newest board member Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, after former member Derek Lamb resigned earlier this month.

Former Kaysville City Council member appointed to Davis School District board

By Michael Lee | November 30, 2023, 5:37 p.m.

(The Salt Lake Tribune) En el sentido de las agujas del reloj, desde arriba a la izquierda: El Distrito Escolar de Salt Lake City ha recomendado el cierre de las escuelas primarias M. Lynn Bennion, Hawthorne, Mary W. Jackson y Riley.

Vea qué 4 escuelas el Distrito Escolar de Salt Lake City cree que deberían cerrar y por qué

By Michael Lee | November 22, 2023, 4:15 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Parents listen as Salt Lake City School District Superintendent Elizabeth Grant announces which four elementary schools district officials think should close during a meeting at Glendale Middle School, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023.

Here’s what would happen to teachers, students if 4 Salt Lake City schools shut down

By Michael Lee | November 22, 2023, 4:53 p.m.