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Michael Lee

Education Reporter

Michael is a K-12 education reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune, where he joined in April 2023. He is a graduate of both Ohio State University and Northwestern University, and has reported on education in the Midwest before joining The Tribune.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City in 2022. Some Salt Lake City homeowners may see slightly lower property taxes this year after local school board members voted not to raise them earlier this month.

Some Salt Lake City homeowners may see lower property taxes this year

By Michael Lee | June 25, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Karl Persson, a Park City father who has submitted two civil rights complaints about the Park City School District, sits in his home in Park City on Friday, May 10, 2024.

Feds investigate after Park City parent says school district discriminated against disabled son

By Michael Lee | June 17, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Oquirrh School Building on 400 East, where the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts is housed, on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts is ‘here to stay’ — under a different charter

By Michael Lee | May 29, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Michael Lee | Salt Lake Tribune) Parents, students and community members walk through weapons detectors at Highland High School during an open house. A survey recorded students', parents' and teachers' feelings about the devices since their October installation.

A third of Salt Lake City high schoolers feel weapons detectors don’t increase security, survey shows

By Michael Lee | May 7, 2024, 5:22 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Protestors in support of transgender rights hold a sit-in in front of a bathroom at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.

Salt Lake City School District resumes plan to train all students on what restrooms they can use

By Michael Lee | April 26, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City School District Superintendent Elizabeth Grant speaks during a board meeting at Glendale Middle School, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023.

Salt Lake City School District pauses plan to train all students on what restrooms they can use

By Michael Lee | April 23, 2024, 8:54 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Julian Robles, Elijah Garza, and Aaron Lopez Ayala walk down the hallway at Guadalupe School, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. The school serves immigrant families and feels confident in its mission despite Utah's anti-DEI law. “Where our concerns lie are with the futures of the demographics we serve," an administrator said.

Utah’s anti-DEI law ‘lights a fire’ under nonprofits as public resources stand to dismantle

By Michael Lee | April 18, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students look at their cellphones after school as they leave Granite School District's Evergreen Junior High School on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The district is considering implementing a universal policy banning cellphone use during school.

Cyberbullying, filming fights: Why Granite School District may ban cellphones

By Michael Lee | April 18, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Google Maps) Administrative offices for the Nebo School District, as shown in 2023.

Fact check: Nebo School District responds to claims about student protest over ‘furries’

By Michael Lee | April 18, 2024, 7:53 p.m.

(Kyle Green | Associated Press file photo) Teacher Abi Hawker leads preschoolers in learning activities at Hillcrest Developmental Preschool in American Falls, Idaho, on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. A grassroots effort to support children and families led the town to rally around a simple mantra — “read, talk, play.” The town has seen improvements in preschool access and kindergarten readiness.

Law aiming to protect teachers could harm students with disabilities, opponents claim

By Michael Lee | April 15, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts is located in the former Oquirrh School Building on 400 East, where it has signed a long-term lease it is struggling to afford.

A longtime SLC charter school is in danger of closing. Here’s why.

By Michael Lee | April 3, 2024, 2:17 p.m.

(LHM Company) A rendering of the Larry H. Miller Company's plans for the Power District development on Salt Lake City’s west side. The 100-acre site along North Temple is where the proposed Major League Baseball stadium would be built.

How the planned Fairpark redevelopment project could divert money from Salt Lake City schools

By Michael Lee | March 28, 2024, 9:11 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Park City School District offices in Park City on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.

Park City School District failed to respond to racial, antisemitic harassment, federal investigation finds

By Michael Lee | March 22, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A restroom at Mount Jordan Middle School in Sandy. Students across Utah reported higher rates of feeling “somewhat” or “very” unsafe in school restrooms or other unsupervised areas, such as school parking lots, according to 2023 state survey results.

‘Kind of scary’: More Utah students feel unsafe in school restrooms, state data shows

By Michael Lee | March 22, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, cuts the ribbon for the new health clinic at West High School, on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

Salt Lake City students can now see doctors, psychologists at West High — Utah’s first high school-based clinic

By Michael Lee | March 21, 2024, 4:49 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) North Star Elementary School 5th and 6th graders build a structure during a summer STEM class, Thursday, July 6, 2023. Voters will decide this fall whether to remove a protection in Utah's constitution for education funding.

Utah’s largest teachers union opposes diverting money from education, after staying neutral for a year

By Michael Lee | Bryan Schott | March 15, 2024, 2:27 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students in Jennifer Crystal's second grade class at Heber Valley Elementary School in Heber City on Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Lawmakers passed roughly 70 bills related to K-12 schools in the latest legislative session.

Here’s how Utah public schools could change after a whirlwind of new education bills

By Michael Lee | Carmen Nesbitt | March 7, 2024, 2:41 p.m.

(Michael Lee | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nancy Halden, a Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah spokesperson, at a news conference urging Gov. Spencer Cox to veto HB119, which would incentivize, train and protect armed teachers.

Utah gun safety advocates urge Cox to veto bill that could lead to more armed teachers in schools

By Michael Lee | March 5, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Signs encouraging people to attend Dilworth Elementary’s open houses are pictured in the Hawthorne Neighborhood on Wednesday, February. 28, 2024. Hawthorne Elementary is one of four Salt Lake City schools that will close by the start of the next school year.

‘Ready to be settled’: Parents still hope to keep kids with siblings, friends after Salt Lake City school closures

By Michael Lee | March 4, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

(Rick Bowmer | AP Photo) Cindy Bullock, a secretary at Timpanogos Academy, participates in shooting drills at the Utah County Sheriff's Office shooting range during a training for teachers and educators on Saturday, June 29, 2019. The Utah Legislature passed a bill that aims to provide teachers with free classroom-threat response training to encourage more educators to carry guns.

To encourage more Utah teachers to carry guns, Legislature OKs free ‘classroom threat’ training

By Michael Lee | March 1, 2024, 7:35 p.m.

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