Annual Statewide Distribution

The School LAND Trust Program, established by the legislature in 1999, distributes a portion of the annual earnings from the permanent School Fund through districts and charter schools to all public schools in the state.

The annual distribution from the School LAND Trust program has grown from $4.95 million in the 2001-2002 school year to a planned distribution of  $95,849,770 million for the 2022-2023 School Year.  That is an average of $141.76 per student.

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School LAND Trust Program Annual Statewide Distribution 2001-2021

 How the Distribution is Calculated

Land

Over 3.2 million acres of land held in trust for Utah’s K-12 schools is managed by the State of Utah  School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA)(External Web Content). SITLA is overseen by a Board of Trustees. Michelle McConkie is  the Director  There are three revenue groups at SITLA tasked with land management and revenue production. They are the Energy and Minerals, Property and Planning Development, and Surface groups. The annual revenue from the land, minus expenses to manage the land, is deposited into the permanent State School Fund.

In the 2022 Fiscal Year, SITLA generated and deposited $119,704,882 in the permanent State School Fund for Utah public school students and an additional $148,363 for the School for the Deaf trust and $105,726 for the School for the Blind trust.  SITLA manages twelve trusts, of which Utah’s public schools is the largest.

For questions about school trust lands, please contact  Marla Kennedy, Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs at (801) 538-5102 or via e-mail at marlakennedy@utah.gov.

Fund

Funds generated from school trust lands are transferred to the Utah  School and Institutional Trust Funds Office (SITFO). SITFO is overseen by a Board of Trustees chaired by Utah State TreasurerMarlo Oaks.

The Utah Enabling Act and Utah Constitution require the establishment of a permanent State School Fund. The fund has grown from $18 million in 1983 to over $3 billion in 2023 because of the involvement of the education community, support of the legislature, increasing land revenue, and prudent investment of the fund. The SITFO office and fund management are self-funded without a cost to taxpayers.

The earnings from the fund provide an annual distribution for the School LAND Trust Program. In 2022-2023, Utah public schools received $95,849,770 million through the School LAND Trust Program.

Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office

The Utah Legislature created the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office (Advocacy Office) to represent the beneficiary interests of the school and institutional trust and to advocate for:

• Productive use and optimal revenue of school and institutional trust lands by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration
• Prudent and profitable investment of trust funds by the School and Institutional Trust Fund Office
• Effective distribution of funds to public schools through the School LAND Trust program
• Optimization of revenue to all beneficiaries

Administration

Jessie Stuart
Executive Assistant
Phone: (801) 359-4379 |  E-mail

Five-member Committee

The five-member Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Committee (Advocacy Committee) oversees the activities of the director and provides the director with policy direction.

For more information on the Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Committee: 

• Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Committee
  Utah Public Notice Website

Trust Lands Advisory Committee (TLAC)

The Utah State Board of Education reconstituted and recognized the Trust Lands Advisory Committee (TLAC) in November 2016 Board Resolution 2016-4 and then reaffirmed support with the Utah State Board of Education Policy 5007 in November of 2021.

Board Policy 5007: Trust Lands Advisory Committee (TLAC)
Utah State Board of Education Policy, Law and Professional Practices

Upon the recommendation of TLAC, the Utah State Board of Education has adopted an official position on School Trust Lands and Funds. 

The purpose of TLAC is to advise the Board regarding school trust lands and funds, school community councils and the School LAND Trust program, and assist the School Children’s Trust section of the Utah State Board of Education to disseminate information to the education community about the implementation of the Board’s policies, programs, rules, and procedures.

Members