UTAH’S EARTHQUAKE RISK
There is a 43% chance of a magnitude 6.75-7.6 earthquake on the Wasatch Fault in the next 50 years — essentially a coin toss. A 7.0 earthquake would release 90 times the energy of the 2020 Magna earthquake and would be among the deadliest disasters in US history.
← Check out the 2024 USSC Report and Recommendations
URM BUILDINGS AND RISKS
Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings in Utah pose a grave threat, especially in schools, where at least 72,000 children are at risk. While URM construction ended in 1976, a 2022 inventory identified around 130 remaining school campuses with URM buildings, impacting 12% of K-12 public school students across 20 counties and 30 school districts.
A POTENTIAL CATASTROPHE
The 2020 Magna earthquake caused significant damage to Westlake Junior High School, a partial URM, necessitating a $60 million replacement. Students and staff would likely have been injured or killed if the COVID-19 pandemic had not caused the school to be closed that day.
IMPROVING STUDENT SAFETY AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
The Utah Seismic Safety Commission urges an allocation of $4 million to assess or design retrofits/replacements for over 130 URM school campuses.
Addressing URM school vulnerabilities is not just about protecting students and staff but is also crucial for swift recovery after a disaster. Functioning school buildings often serve as emergency shelters in the days and weeks after a disaster. And communities can’t return to normal until students are back in the classroom.
IS YOUR SCHOOL A URM?
Envision Utah spent the last year working with local officials, policy experts, developers, and others to identify specific recommendations that can help make housing more affordable. This process included
A detailed review of 35 current land use and construction ordinances in counties and municipalities across Utah
An extensive literature review to uncover research-backed correlations among regulation, housing supply, and housing costs
A review of national best practices and case studies, including an assessment of regulatory impacts on housing supply and attainability in similar markets
A land buildout analysis for the Wasatch Front counties
Checkout our report!
← Check out our land use recommendations for state and local government
education vision
VISION FOR UTAH PUBLIC EDUCATION
Utahns have high ambitions for the future of education and want to see improvements that will help every student gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed both in school and beyond.
We propose a statewide effort to create that vision by engaging key education, state, legislative, and community leaders in prioritizing strategies to articulate a unified vision and mission for education in Utah. The result of this will be a vision and mission for education that has high stakeholder and public support and that could be adopted into state code.
PROJECT STRUCTURE
Envision Utah has a strong history of bringing people together and creating consensus surrounding complex and divisive topics. Envision Utah will direct this effort as conveners and facilitators involving a steering committee, stakeholder committee, broader Utah education stakeholders, and the public.
PHASE I: LISTENING & ENGAGEMENT Spring–Early Summer 2024
The first phase is focused on gathering ideas, identifying challenges, and critical to building credibility and ensuring that stakeholders feel heard and engaged. We expect this phase to include workshops and listening sessions, surveys, collaboration with various stakeholders and committees, and media attention on this effort.
PHASE II: SCENARIOS Summer–Early Fall 2024
The second phase will utilize input from the first phase to generate a set of statewide education scenarios for what education could look like in the future—along with the strategies and steps to reach those outcomes. This phase will likely include more collaboration with stakeholders and committees, a major stakeholder convening event, and presentations/workshops.
PHASE III: VISION & MISSION Timeline: Fall–Winter 2024
Feedback on the scenarios will form the basis for a consensus approach to the vision and mission for education in Utah. This will include both a vision and mission that could be adopted into code as well as specific strategies to implement that vision.
UPLIFTING THE PROFESSION OF EDUCATION
How can we ensure that Utah students have access to the most qualified teachers? The influence of teachers on student learning surpasses any other factor in our schools. However, Utah is currently facing a teacher shortage that jeopardizes the education of its students. It is our responsibility to attract highly skilled teachers, retain exceptional educators in the classrooms, and elevate the overall status of the teaching profession. Achieving this goal is possible, and adequate compensation plays a crucial role.
QUICK GLANCE AT THE GOALS
Increase salaries for all teachers so that average starting salaries and end-of-career salaries are competitive with other industries in Utah
Strengthen teacher training and induction with meaningful support from dedicated mentors
Provide flexibility for teachers to work more days for planning, professional development, summer teaching, etc.
Provide more scholarships for prospective teachers and heavily promote scholarship opportunites to students or prospective teachers.
Build stronger career pathways by designing more teacher-leader positions with varied responsiblities and pay.
Encourage greater family support and involvement in education.
Ensure class sizes are effective for subject area and grade level.
Provide adequate support to professionals such as counselors, aids, tutors, college access advisors, etc.
