Meet Molly Hart — Utah's new superintendent of public instruction

SALT LAKE CITY — Molly Hart's new seat at the Utah State Board of Education monthly meetings is just a few steps from the one she previously occupied — but much has changed in recent weeks for the veteran educator.

For over four years, Hart served as a board member, most recently as its vice chairwoman. Now she's sitting in the board room seat reserved for the state superintendent of public instruction.

Hart jokes that she's simply trying to inch closer and closer to the board room's thermostat. But her goals and objectives as the USBE's newly appointed chief executive officer go far beyond boardroom climate control.

She's now been on the job as superintendent for a couple of weeks, fueled by an exhaustive energy that's to be expected at a moment of historic disruption in education happening in Utah and across the country.

"I feel very lucky and privileged to be able to serve in this way," she told the Deseret News. "But I'm also tired. I want to do all the things — but most of all, I want to listen and learn.

"I am trying to be in as many positions or places that I can where I can listen and learn."

Message to educators: Never stop learning

Succeeding Sydnee Dickson as Utah's top K-12 education administrator was not listed on Hart's career agenda when the Michigan native relocated to the Beehive State in 2012 to be the principal of Sandy's Mount Jordan Middle School and, later, at Albion Middle School.

"I didn't expect to be in Utah for a long time," she said. "We thought it was a stop along the way."

But the Republican's tenure across multiple corners of Utah's public education community now offers her insights from within the classroom, the principal's office and the school board meeting room.

She's been a teacher and an administrator at both a traditional public school and a charter school. Most recently, she served as the executive director of Summit Academy, a K-12 charter school with multiple campuses in Salt Lake County.

Hart's also an avid quilter and reader, and relishes any opportunity to polish her golf game on one of Utah's links.

But despite her wide professional background, Hart remains in perpetual learning mode for all things K-12 education. "The minute you step out of the classroom or out of a school, you really are obsolete," she said. "If you don't keep listening to the people that are still in those positions, then you're done.

"You have to keep your ear to the ground and listen. Things change so quickly, and the realities of the classroom in the school are so complicated that if you think that you understand them just because you've been there before, you won't be effective."

Changes in Utah classrooms are happening in rapid, real time, she agreed. And they typically reflect what's happening in society.

"It's no small coincidence that we're seeing (classroom) issues with behavior — and we're also seeing issues of unrest in communities," she said. "There's a connection there. So, as we at USBE are here to support and lead the public school system in Utah, you have to take the realities under consideration."

So what's keeping Superintendent Hart up at night?

Hart's optimistic about the emerging opportunities for Utah's school kids. But she acknowledges the challenges.

Counted among those challenges are classroom misbehavior, chronic absenteeism and local boards trying to determine how to meet the diverse needs and expectations of their respective communities.

"We don't have the luxury of having a defined, narrow understanding of what a school should look like or what a school should accomplish — and because of that, it's challenging," she said.

"It's challenging our boards, our principals, our teachers and our communities to make decisions, and it's hard.

"And that's why you see things like school choice, because we don't have agreement."

Hart: Don't fear school choice

It's impossible to examine K-12 education across the country today and not encounter spirited debates on school choice and attendant issues such as vouchers and charter schools. Those debates in Utah are happening on Capitol Hill, in the courtrooms, and, of course, in Utahns' kitchens and living rooms.

But Hart's not afraid of school choice. It's a reflection, she said, of the freedoms valued in American society. "Choice, when managed, is something that can strengthen the system. Choice is opportunity."

She defends parents' rights to choose an option outside of state-funded education.

"But for any child or family in Utah, I want the public education opportunities and choices to be absolutely top notch."

Hart added that school choice is rarely nonlinear for Utah students. Many kids now being homeschooled will likely be enrolled in a traditional public school or charter school at some point. Others might move between schools to best meet their respective needs.

"We have a responsibility to make sure that there are different options for different families at different stages and in different situations — and to make sure that all of those options are exemplary."

"Choice," she added, "doesn't scare me."

Read the full article at Deseret.com.

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