The Granite School District is embroiled in controversy following the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) scrutiny over the district’s use of COVID relief funds. In a recent exposure by DOGE, led by Elon Musk, it was highlighted that schools across the nation spent substantial portions of the nearly $200 billion in COVID-relief funds with questionable impact on student enrichment and with scant oversight. The Granite School District, as part of this broader overview, reportedly spent approximately $86,000 of those allocated funds on hotel accommodations at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. This expenditure was for a professional development conference by Solution Tree attended by 123 educators in 2022, as reported by KJZZ.
In responses obtained by FOX 13, the Granite School District firmly denied any wrongdoing with the spent funds, insisting that the Las Vegas conference was approved by the state Board of Education and followed all state and federal guidelines. To clarify the situation, the district stated, “We were surprised to be accused of fraud without having some contact from anyone to verify the legitimacy of the expense.” The district added that the conference held in Las Vegas was the closest to their location at the time, and they’ve since managed to bring the conference to Salt Lake City, cutting down expenses and allowing wider local participation.
However, public reaction to this spending has been mixed. Narciso Vasquez, a former substitute teacher, expressed his concern to KJZZ, stating, “A lot of money being wasted on stuff that I’d seen when I was teaching. Things we needed, like books and stuff like that, they said we don’t have enough money.” Critics like Vasquez view these expenditures as extravagant, inappropriate uses of funds that could have been allocated toward more direct educational needs. Meanwhile, district officials maintain that the event was not only approved but also beneficial for the district’s educators…