- Salt Lake City School District will end its community education program this summer.
- The program, serving adults with a wide variety of educational and enrichment classes, was not financially self-sustaining, the district said.
- Despite community support, the district said it's prioritizing K-12 funding over adult education initiatives.
SALT LAKE CITY — After over five decades of service, the Salt Lake City School District's community education program will shut its doors for good this summer at the conclusion of the school year.
In March, the district notified three employees and approximately 50 contracted service providers that the program was set to shut down after 54 years, and that their positions would be terminated. The contracted service providers teach the courses.
Classes are currently held in the evenings at East High School, West High School and Highland High School.
"The (classes) that are going away are strictly for adults. They are not for K-12 students," district spokeswoman Yándary Chatwin told KSL. "Some of the things that have been offered are like pottery or beginning Italian or tap dance or ballet for adults, so these are adult enrichment classes rather than academic classes for students."
A statement from the district said the program was "using resources that could be directed toward the classroom," which ultimately led to the decision to shutter the program.
Kathleen Curry Griffin, who served as the community education program supervisor for over 30 of those years, said that between 2011 and 2023, the program served over 35,000 community members and generated $2 million in revenue.
Because the classes were so loved by the community, Chatwin said the district took time to consider whether it would make sense to continue them.
"The financial reality was that the program was not self-sustaining for a couple of years," Chatwin said. "The tuition that the programs are bringing in is not anywhere near enough to cover the expenses of the program, which meant that to continue, the district would've had to subsidize with our already limited dollars, and we would rather put those dollars into our K-12 classrooms, supporting our young students, rather than adult learners."
Still, for people like Griffin, the news doesn't come easy, and the district's reasoning does little to east the pain.
During the public comment portion of Tuesday night's board meeting, Griffin argued that public schools are intended to function as civic centers, alongside the mission of K-12 education.
"They're intended for community use, education and recreation. Community education is actually an operational mechanism that fulfills this law. The community education (program) does not compete with the day school or the money from the day school," Griffin said.
Hank Perry is one of the community members who participated in the program over the last 54 years. He echoed Griffin's solemn sentiments about eliminating the program.
Anderson said he took an introduction to computers class in the late 1980s, a class he credits with giving him an understanding of computers and propelling him through his career.
"I recently took mandolin classes along with my wife, who's currently taking guitar. The teachers have always been excellent, patient, instructional, and most importantly, created a sense of community with my other classmates," Anderson said. "I'm looking for more of an explanation. Help me understand why you made the difficult choice to end 54 years of valuable community service. I would be remiss if I didn't ask you to reconsider, to please allow this community benefit to continue."
But Chatwin said the decision to suspend the program wasn't up to a board vote, calling it a "district decision" that is final, sealing the fate of the beloved community program.
