Take THAT, voters. We’re closing your schools 1 day a week because you voted against the tax hike . . .

The Iron County Utah school district has something to say: they're going to a 4-day work week because voters didn’t approve $3 million in new taxes.

$3 million may not sound like a lot, but it’s an increase of 10% over 2025. And in 2025 the school district overspent by another 10% without prior approval. Does this help explain why Utah voters are cheesed? See links below.

The population change in Iron County has averaged 2.5% for the past several decades, and it was 2.5% again in 2025. So nobody can claim a bunch of parents migrated from California, and local Utah schools need a big cash infusion to deal with that.

75% of the Iron County school budget is salaries and benefits. I don’t know how this compares to your town, but it seems in the zone. The numbers suggest that Iron County teachers will be getting 10% more salary and benefits in 2026, despite a stable student enrollment. And got 10% more the prior year . . . .

Okay, back to the 4-day school week. How exactly how does this save money? Are there going to be 10% fewer teachers? The same staffing, but teachers get paid 10% less because they have 3 day weekends all the time? The school board is blackmailing parents with the threat of school closures, and has some ‘splaining to do, on their math.

If actually happens – a 4 day school week – it means parents will have to pay for private childcare on those cancelled days. Shifting education costs away from the schools directly to the parents. In the case of middle school and higher students, I suppose the presumption is that they will simply roam the streets or play videogames at home all day.

Please let me correct any misimpression I may be giving that the Iron County Utah school district is bad at whatever it is they’re up to. A 4-day school week may sound insane, but it’s probably a more evolved tax heist than simply threatening to fire a bunch of favorite teachers. That’s the scheme which lots of other school districts try to pull . . .

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Denied its $2.8M tax hike, a Utah district considers four-day school week to save money

Notable items included in the FY2025 Amended and FY2026 Preliminary Budget

Subsumedpat · 36-40, M

Things like this seem to be happening more these days, we get a group of free spenders in office who way over spend then try to blame it on the residents for not raising taxes.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@Subsumedpat i'm a fan of a balanced budget. which means either tax more or spending less.

voters don't like either outcome. we live in the land of enchanted thinking, and entitlements

Subsumedpat · 36-40, M

@SusanInFlorida We don't have to have a balanced budget, it is ok if we spend more in times of greater need like we did during world war 2 . After the wat the ration to GDP to debt was !06% , we got it down to 23% in 1974. Likely would have been paid off had we not blundered into that crazy Asian war. What you can't do is what we are doing , have a constantly rising debt ratio with no emergency to justify it, there is no winning end game at the end of that.