SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 16, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah State Board of Education is delaying plans to discuss its Gender Identity Guidance for Public Education draft document due to the flood of public feedback received.
“The agency’s initial plan was to discuss public feedback at a special Standards and Assessment Committee meeting that was tentatively scheduled for Feb. 23,” says a USBE statement issued Wednesday.
“However, due to the large volume of responses received, USBE is still completing the review of the feedback submitted.”
USBE received more than 20,000 public comments, “which is far more than we had anticipated; in fact, it is the most feedback the agency has received through a public comment opportunity,” the board’s statement says.
“While the agency is pleased to see this level of public engagement, the process of reviewing the feedback will take longer than was originally planned.”
The next public and open Board meeting is on March 11 in the Standards and Assessment Committee, the statement says.
The online survey had a submission deadline of Feb. 7, and the link has been deactivated.
