Carmen Nesbitt - The Salt Lake Tribune

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The American Preparatory Academy campus in West Valley City is pictured on Thursday, July 30, 2026.

‘Public has a right to know’: A Utah charter school operator is fighting to keep its top administrators’ salaries a secret

By Carmen Nesbitt | August 4, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A second grade teacher instructs a class at Fox Hollow Elementary School, part of the current Alpine School District, on Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. The Alpine district will split in July 2027, creating three new districts, including Timpanogos.

Timpanogos: What to know about the smallest new school district created in the massive Alpine split

By Carmen Nesbitt | July 26, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A student reads at Fox Hollow Elementary School, part of the current Alpine School District, on Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. The Alpine district will split in July 2027, creating three new districts, including Lake Mountain.

Lake Mountain: What to know about this new school district created in the massive Alpine split

By Carmen Nesbitt | July 25, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students during a break between classes at Lehi High School, part of the Alpine School District, in Lehi on Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. The Alpine district will split in July 2027, creating three new districts, including Aspen Peaks.

Aspen Peaks: What to know about the largest new school district created in the massive Alpine split

By Carmen Nesbitt | July 24, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students work in an English class at Lehi High School, on Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025.

Utah’s largest school district is about to split. Here’s where its students will land.

By Carmen Nesbitt | July 21, 2026, 7:59 p.m.

(Mark J. Terrill | The Associated Press) The ongoing cyclosporasis outbreak has consumers across the country concerned about lettuce and other leafy greens, which have been linked to past cases of the intestinal illness.

The national diarrhea outbreak hasn’t hit Utah — despite a CDC map showing up to 10 cases. State health officials explain.

By Carmen Nesbitt | July 15, 2026, 5:13 p.m.

(Evan Agostini | Invision/AP) Stephen King attends the 2018 PEN Literary Gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. His 1998 novel "Bag of Bones" was added to Utah's growing list of titles banned from all public schools.

Utah just banned another Stephen King book from all public schools. Here’s what it’s about.

By Carmen Nesbitt | July 13, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A model of the Grand Liberty Arch designed by sculptor Sabin Howard is on display during a special event honoring the planned monument and America's 250th birthday at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on July 6, 2026.

A sculptor wants his ‘Grand’ Utah arch to unify Americans. The surprised neighborhood wants to stop it.

By Emily Anderson Stern | Jordan Miller | Carmen Nesbitt | July 9, 2026, 1:25 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A detail of a small-scale model of the Grand Liberty Arch planned for Salt Lake City is seen during a special event introducing the monument and celebrating America's 250th birthday at the Capitol on Monday, July 6, 2026.

Statue of tomahawk-wielding Indigenous man is a stereotype, Native nations and SLC community say

By Emily Anderson Stern | Carmen Nesbitt | July 9, 2026, 6:11 p.m.

(The Salt Lake Tribune) Activities and items that families have spent money on under the Utah Fits All voucher program, clockwise from top left: tuition at Judge Memorial high school; passes for Salt Lake Connect activities, such as the Hogle Zoo; skiing at Snowbird resort; and bicycles and equipment, shown here in Daybreak.

‘Wasteful and extravagant’: Here’s what Utah auditors found digging into the first year of school voucher spending

By Carmen Nesbitt | July 7, 2026, 9:25 p.m.

(Tim Llewellyn) Author Jodi Picoult, whose novel "Nineteen Minutes" has been banned in Utah public schools, is scheduled to speak at the first Salt Lake Book Festival in October 2026.

One of her books is banned in Utah schools. She’s coming to the first Salt Lake Book Festival.

By Carmen Nesbitt | July 2, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Cases of eggs in storage at a Salt Lake City bakery on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. Utah will receive about 125,000 cartons of eggs as part of a settlement over a scheme involving three major egg producers who conspired to illegally drive up prices across Utah and other states, the Utah attorney general’s office announced.

In this economy? Major egg producers ‘conspired’ to drive up prices, settlement says. Here’s what Utah gets.

By Carmen Nesbitt | Paighten Harkins | July 1, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(The Salt Lake Tribune) Clockwise from top left: M. Lynn Bennion Elementary, Hawthorne Elementary, Mary W. Jackson Elementary and Riley Elementary were all closed ahead of the 2024-25 school year in a process that was "really hard for the community," an official said. More closures are likely on the horizon.

More school closures are likely in Salt Lake City. Here’s which ones could land on the chopping block.

By Andy Larsen | Carmen Nesbitt | June 30, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Carmen Nesbitt | The Salt Lake Tribune) LGBTQ+ groups and local booksellers give away free banned books at SLC Pride on Sunday, June 28, 2026.

Frustrated with book bans, these Utah bookstores now hand out free copies of titles pulled from public schools

By Carmen Nesbitt | June 30, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Lights above the artificial turf field at Rosslyn Heights Sports Complex in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.

A Salt Lake City school’s new sports complex features a huge turf field. Neighbors say it’s a heat island — and smells.

By Carmen Nesbitt | June 29, 2026, 3:50 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Third grade students participate in class at Indian Hills Elementary School in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Utah has invested millions to try and improve reading scores for kids in kindergarten through third grade, but the needle hasn't moved much, a new state audit found.

Are Utah’s K-3 reading programs actually working? Here’s what a new state report found.

By Carmen Nesbitt | June 24, 2026, 6:39 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) City Hall in Salt Lake City. According to a state audit, researchers found Salt Lake City School District's student demographics "predict much lower scores than we actually observe."

Salt Lake City students ‘significantly outperform’ demographics-based expectations, researchers find in state audit

By Carmen Nesbitt | June 21, 2026, 3:39 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Reading Elementary School in Centerville on Friday, May 22, 2026.

A Utah book-ban advocate was given access to a school library system with private student data. The district says there was ‘no breach.’

By Courtney Tanner | Carmen Nesbitt | June 18, 2026, 8:56 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Samarra Pearce-Douros plays on the playground at Bluff Ridge Elementary School in Syracuse, on Friday, June 5, 2026.

For some kids in wheelchairs, recess meant watching from the sidelines. This Utah school is changing that.

By Carmen Nesbitt | June 16, 2026, 12:00 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah State Board of Education in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 3, 2025.

After a sex offender went on an overnight cheer trip, Utah state school board looks to expand background checks

By Carmen Nesbitt | June 11, 2026, 12:00 p.m.