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Show Trust lands and revenues r to be discussed Feb. 12 J r Parents in the Davis County School District are invited in-vited to a meeting about school trust lands and school revenues Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. in the View-mont View-mont High School auditorium, 120 W. 1000 North, Bountiful. The meeting will focus on how money for schools generated by school trust lands can be increased. In 1990, Utah had $37 million in a permanent trust account. By contrast, New Mexico had $2.4 billion; Wvoming, $649 million; Arizona, $441 million; Idaho, $ million, and Colorado, $190 million, according to a i&l sheet prepared by the Utah State PTA. A new video on the trust lands will be premiered at the meeting, and Margaret R. Bird, research specialist for public and higher education, will speak. She will present the results of a 17-year study on the trust lands. School trust lands are acres of land designated by Congress at the time of statehood to support education. The lands are held in trust by the state, and revenues from these lands are intended for the schools. In Utah, some of the original trust lands have been sold, and 3.7 million acres remain. Although the state has become more aware of its legal obligation to manage the lands well, fraud and mismanagement in the past have resulted in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to the schools, according accor-ding to the state PTA. Policy decisions about the trust lands are made by an 11 -member state land board, with only one of the 11 representing the schools. Many of the board members are land users who may have Jin interest in keeping usage rates low. It is the position of the PT A that school revenues from the trust lands can be increased. Utah funds less than one percent of its education from the permanent trust fund, while New Mexico, for example, funds approximately ap-proximately 25 percent. Several proposals concerning the school trust lands are before the Legislature. The meeting is co-sponsored by the Viewmont Parent Teacher Student Association, and the PTAs of the junior high and elementary schools feeding into Viewmont. The video was funded by the state PTA, Utah Education Edu-cation Association, secondary and elementary principals prin-cipals and classified employees. Political candidates, Davis County legislators, elected officials and members of the State Office of Education have been invited to attend the meeting. For further information, contact Anne Christensen, Viewmont PTSA legislative vice president, 292-2494. |