Veteran educator Molly L. Hart will be Utah's next state school superintendent of public instruction

SALT LAKE CITY – The state's next state superintendent of public instruction will be a familiar face at the Utah State Board of Education offices.

Late Wednesday, board members selected fellow board member Molly L. Hart to replace Sydnee Dickson, who is expected to step down next month following nine years on the job.

The board vote in favor of Hart came after Wednesday afternoon public interviews of both Hart and fellow finalist, Kane County School Superintendent L. Ben Dalton. The interviews were then followed by several hours of closed meeting board discussion.

In the end, the board voted to appoint Hart by a vote of 12-2. Board members Christina Boggess and Emily Green cast the two opposing votes.

The state board's next chief executive officer won't require a GPS app to locate her new office. Hart is currently in her second term on the state board, representing District 7 which covers southeast Salt Lake County.

Education: 'A ticket to freedom'

The board's actions followed a long day Wednesday for both Hart and Dalton.

The two finalists each spent about 90 minutes being interviewed by state education board members in a public meeting that was livestreamed on the board's YouTube channel.

Each educator answered a variety of questions from the board — including queries regarding the greatest financial needs in public education and supporting school teachers to questions about the evolving federal disruptions to education and how to best help students learn resilience and grit.

At the conclusion of her board interview, Hart spoke of the importance "that every Utah student gets an opportunity for a high, high quality education."

Education, she added, was a personal "door opener." Hart's own parents wanted her to succeed, but they didn't always know how to navigate the education system. Jobs and the day-to-day demands of supporting a family kept them from being involved in PTA and other programs.

"My family," said Hart, "relied on the education system to be high quality without their involvement."

"Yes, it's fabulous when we can engage parents and find ways to engage them despite their busy lives … (but) I want the system to be excellent because we've set up systems where teachers and schools and communities can have excellent schools for everyone, no matter what."

Education, she added, "is the ticket to freedom and the ticket to liberty … and I want that for every student in Utah."

Who is Superintendent-select Molly L. Hart?

A longtime educator, Hart brings to the superintendency more than two decades of experience in almost all aspects of the profession. She has worked in the classroom as a substitute teacher, paraprofessional and teacher — and as an assistant principal and principal.

She is currently the executive director of Summit Academy, a K-12 charter school with multiple campuses in Salt Lake County.

A Republican and a first-generation college graduate, Hart holds a doctorate in family-community service from Georgia's Valdosta State University and degrees in middle grades education/reading and elementary education.

She has been honored with the Utah PTA Outstanding School Administrator Award.

Hart and her husband, Robert Hart, are parents of two high school children in the public school system, according to her state Board of Education member biography. The Michigan native's hobbies include quilting, reading, running, golfing and spending time with her three dogs.

She was reelected to the board last November, defeating Democrat John Arthur with 52% of the vote.

Hart replaces Dickson at a turbulent moment in American K-12 education where states will likely be required to fill new roles to serve their students.

Today's Department of Education is unrecognizable from the agency that existed when Hart was reelected to the state board just months ago. Nearly half of the department's workforce has been eliminated.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March seeking the elimination of the Department of Education, saying he wants to "return our students to the states."

Shuttering the Education Department would impact Utah students. More than 108,000 Utah K-12 children benefit from federal funds allocated by the agency, including Title I money. Many worry kids from disadvantaged homes could be harmed without Department of Education allotments.

Several state leaders, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, have argued that Utah is ready and able to support local students of all backgrounds, while minimizing Washington bureaucracy.

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