The Salt Lake City school board has chosen Michelle Tuitupou, an academic advisor and former teacher, to finish out the term of a member who resigned earlier this year.
Tuitupou was appointed Tuesday night to represent Precinct 1 in the school district, which covers the northwest part of the city, including Rose Park. She will replace Tiffany Sandberg, who stepped down from the board after her job in health care became too busy during the coronavirus pandemic to continue serving.
Now, Tuitupou will be in the position through the end of the year — and part of her responsibility will be helping schools deal with the repercussions of COVID-19.
“During these unprecedented times, I have witnessed the creativity, support, and concern among our educators and community at large and am proud to serve in this role,” she said in a statement.
Tuitupou currently works as an academic advisor in the University of Utah’s College of Mines and Earth Sciences. And she was a teacher before that.
As a first-generation Samoan, she said, she also enjoys participating in the Utah Multicultural Commission and Pasifika Enrichment of the Arts in Utah. Tuitupou said she’s excited to use both her cultural experience and her expertise in education on the school board.
“So'o le fau ma le fau,” she said. “In working together, we can accomplish great things.”
She has four kids; three have graduated from Salt Lake City School District and one is currently in middle school.
Tuitupou was one of eight candidates who applied for the board position. The spot is up for election again in November.
The previous board member, Sandberg, left the position in early April, saying it was for the personal reasons related to her job. She had previously served as president, though, and stepped down from that leadership role in February, saying there was too much infighting among members.
“I feel that our board is fractured, and try as I might, I do not have the glue that can bring us back together,” she previously noted.
Sandberg later resigned entirely and Superintendent Lexi Cunningham will depart, effective this summer, at the end of a series of controversies in the school district.
Member Michael Nemelka disclosed at the time that Cunningham was forced out after four other board members voted to fire her if she didn’t voluntarily leave. He said she was “targeted” after some asked her to fire 16 principals districtwide and she declined to do so. On that list was Ford White, formerly the principal at West High School.
The day after Cunningham resigned, the board voted to fire White. He had been on leave and under investigation since November when he drove students home after finding them drinking on school grounds. According to district policy for safety, he was supposed to call the police.
Sandberg had long supported both Cunningham and White. Cunningham now will be the executive director for the Utah State Superintendents Association and the associate executive director for the Utah School Boards Association.
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