Senator David Hinkins received the 2017 Friend of the Trust Award at a ceremony held at Emery High School in Castle Dale Tuesday, December 19. Emery County School District Superintendent Larry W. Davis, Emery High School Principal Steven Gordon, and Emery High School students joined in the presentation.
The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) School Children’s Trust and School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) presented the award to Senator Hinkins for his advocacy and support of Utah’s K-12 public school trust and its $2.37 billion endowment.
“Utah schools received approximately $100 per student this year to help students, and Sen. Hinkins was instrumental in helping this happen. We are pleased to honor him with the Friend of the Trust award,” stated USBE Chair Mark Huntsman. “Through his leadership, the trust land managers have the necessary resources to prudently manage the school trust assets.”
The public school trust consists of the 3.3 million-acre school trust land portfolio and the $2.37 billion Permanent School Fund endowment.
“Throughout his tenure in the Utah legislature, Senator Hinkins has supported and sponsored legislation to move SITLA forward and help our agency build the Permanent School Fund for the benefit of Utah students today and tomorrow,” stated SITLA Director David Ure. “He also recognizes the important economic opportunities trust lands bring to communities in rural Utah.”
SITLA manages Utah’s school trust lands and deposits revenues from energy, mineral, real estate, and surface development into the Permanent School Fund, which has grown to $2.37 billion. Interest income from this endowment, called School LAND Trust Funds, is distributed annually to individual K-12 schools.
Emery County School District received $334,356 in School LAND Trust Funds this school year, its share of the $64.25 million distributed statewide. Schools receive a sum based largely on a per-pupil formula.
Book Cliff Elementary School: $13,785 Canyon View Junior High: $36,146 Castle Dale Elementary School: $26,804 Cleveland Elementary School: $21,136 Cottonwood Elementary School: $21,290 Emery High School: $90,520 Ferron Elementary School: $31,552 Green River High School: $14,091 Huntington Elementary School: $39,669 San Rafael Junior High School: $39,363
On behalf of Utah’s public school system, the School Children’s Trust at the Utah State Board of Education advocates for proper fiduciary management of Utah’s trust lands and investment of the Permanent School Fund.
The School Children’s Trust and SITLA created the Friend of the Trust Award to recognize those who have contributed significantly to the public school trust. Previous recipients include the late State Senator Dennis Stowell, Margaret Bird, Utah PTA, Representative Mike Noel, and former Representatives Mel Brown and James Gowans.
