Is Park City School Board The Most Important Elected Office in Park City and Summit County?

Last night the Park City School Board held a public hearing and voted to approve the 2015/2016 Budget. The school district will spend $60 million next year. How many members of the public attended the 6PM hearing? Zero.

Was there anything controversial to discuss? I suppose it depends on your view. Two things stand out:

1. Your taxes are going up next year.
2. The School district is projected to spend more than it takes in through 2020.

Of course, there are reasons for those both to occur. Taxes are increasing due to state legislature decisions and the school district’s business administrator said that the deficits are due to front loading some of the costs of the new teacher contracts.

Still, no one showed. After following the school board closely for about a year, that’s the norm. Unlike the City and County Councils, where people will show up to provide their two cents on almost any issue, the school board members are left to go it alone with little public input. Given that, the public is placing their ultimate trust in those five board members — relying on them to make the right decisions.

So, with a budget bigger than Summit County, the responsibility for educating our children, and little community input, is it the most important elected position in our community? It sure seems like it.