Lawmakers want to triple funding for Utah Fits All Scholarship
Though applications for the Utah Fits All Scholarship program haven’t opened yet, some lawmakers want greatly increase its public funding.
The voucher program was allocated $42.5 million in a law last year, which would cover about 5,000 students. However, the law’s sponsors, Rep. Candice Pierucci (R- Salt Lake) and Sen. Kirk Cullimore (R- Salt Lake), say demand is much higher than that.
The advocacy group Utah Education Fits All has been making a list of interested families through an online form and have reportedly heard from 17,000 families, which is over 35,000 kids. Covering that many students would cost nearly $300 million.
To meet some of that demand, Rep. Pierucci and Sen. Cullimore asked the Public Education Appropriation Subcommittee on Jan. 31 for the program’s budget to be increased to $150 million, which, while far below the estimate for current demand, is also more than three times the current funding.
Questions brought up by subcommittee members included where funding would come from and what would be done with unused funding. Rep. Carol Moss (D- Salt Lake) also expressed concern over increasing funding before seeing how the program works.
No decision on the funding increase has been made as of yet. Applications for the program open February 28.
Iron County Jail is first in Utah to adopt IGNITE education program
Iron County Jail has become the first in Utah to adopt a new program designed to help inmates acquire useful skills to help them find employment after release.
Inmates enrolled in IGNITE, which stands for “Intimate Growth, Naturally and Intentionally Through Education,” spend a couple hours a day five days a week in classes where they can receive training for a skilled trade job, earn credits toward a GED or take enrichment courses in various topics.
The program was first started in Genessee County, Michigan in 2020 and has since been implemented by correctional facilities in 11 states.
In a news conference, Iron County Jail officials said they’ve already started rolling out the program, with 30 people in attendance.
More information about the IGNITE program can be found on the National Sheriff’s Association website or the Genesse County Sheriff’s Office website.
Idaho Falls Zoo’s 150-year-old tortoise passes away
A 150-year-old tortoise at Idaho Falls Zoo passed away earlier this month, according to zoo officials.
Butros was an Aldabra tortoise, which is one of the world’s largest land tortoise species. They can weigh as much as 550 pounds and live up to 150 years.
In the final months of his life, Butros was under the care of the zoo’s Animal Care staff and Veterinary Team. The zoo’s other Aldabra tortoise, Omar, is reportedly still doing well.
