Utah
Utah Board of Ed reworks its ‘educational equity’ rule to match the new anti-DEI law
The Utah State Board of Education revised its “educational equity” rule during its Feb. 1 meeting to be in line with the state’s new anti-DEI law. But it was already on the chopping block prior to the law’s passage.
There were accusations that it was in conflict with a state law passed in 2023. And on Jan. 11, the board voted 8-7 to keep the rule, but they signaled changes could be coming.
The original rule defined educational equity as “acknowledging that all students are capable of learning and distributing resources to provide equal opportunities based upon the needs of each individual student. Equitable resources include funding, programs, policies, initiatives and supports that recognize each student’s unique background and school context to guarantee that all students have access to high-quality education.”
The rule is now called “Equal Opportunity in Education,” matching language in the new law, which was called “Equal Opportunity Initiatives.”
The phrase “educational equity” has been removed entirely. The new focus is defined as “acknowledging that all students are capable of learning and may need additional guidance, resources, and support based on their academic needs.”
During the board’s more than 7 hour discussion about the rule, board member Cindy Davis said, “ultimately, this is a training rule,” referencing training for educators.
Instead of instructing educators about “fostering a learning environment and workplace that are safe and respectful of all students and educators,” as was in the original rule, now training is to focus on creating “a learning environment which is safe, conducive to the learning process, and free from unnecessary disruption.”
The original rule also required educators to be trained in “implementing principles and strategies of inclusion, as they pertain to students and educators with diverse abilities and backgrounds.” The update focuses this section exclusively on students with disabilities.
And instead of promoting “viewpoint diversity,” educators are to be taught how to “promote the examination of various viewpoints on a topic in an impartial and politically neutral manner.”
The list of things that educators can’t be taught in professional training was expanded. The content now matches the list of “prohibited discriminatory practices” in the state’s anti-DEI law. This includes any training with diversity, equity and inclusion in its name.
Like the law, the updated rule says schools and districts can have offices or employees that provide support, guidance and resources to students, as long as they’re focused on all students.
Darlene McDonald, a community activist and director of 1Utah Project, was a vocal advocate for the original rule. While she was open to changing it, she said in a statement the amended version “is no longer a rule worth defending.”
McDonald said the original provided students, educators and schools with “the necessary tools to handle emerging social issues.” The new one, “is simply a copy and paste” of the state’s new law and strays from the original intent of the rule. She said the board should change the name of the rule “to reflect what it really is, Administrative Rule R277-328 Culture War in Schools.”
In an interview with KUER, McDonald said the decision felt like a “gut punch.” and offers less clarity. McDonald got emotional reading through what was deleted, including a line that required teachers to be trained on “acknowledging and respecting differences by looking for the good in everyone, including oneself, and showing due regard for feelings, rights, cultures, and traditions.”
After the board voted to keep the rule in January, she was hopeful about any possible changes. But what the board created is a completely new rule that undid all the work that went into creating the original in 2021.
The vote to adopt the amended version was 10-4. Board members Emily Green, Christina Boggess, Joseph Kerry and Natalie Cline were against it.
Boggess proposed they postpone making final changes until their meeting the next day given how long that day’s board meeting had been. But others didn’t want to leave it as unfinished business. Kerry also wanted to put the brakes on things since the new anti-DEI law had just been passed and he said the state’s higher education was still figuring out what this law meant for them.
“If there’s some unspoken reason why we’re, we’re moving like the barn’s on fire. I don’t understand it,” Kerry said.
Lawmakers had proposed a bill to reauthorize every state agency’s rules, except for the State Board of Education’s educational equity rule. That bill was circled the day before the board’s meeting. Per state code, the public can still weigh in on the amended rule for the next month.
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Two years after October 7th attacks, Gaza war reshapes global politics
Two years after Hamas attacked Israel, Gaza lies in ruins and global alliances have shifted. Correction: A previous version of this video incorrectly identified the conflict. The conflict is between Israel and Hamas.
A man was arrested in Utah after allegedly stabbing a Muslim employee at a mall multiple times and telling investigators he targeted the victim because of his religion, according to court records.
Peter Michael Larsen, 48, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and prohibited dangerous weapon conduct following the attack on July 13 at the Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City, Utah, court and online jail records show. West Valley City is a suburb of Salt Lake City.
The West Valley City Police Department said the incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. local time, when Larsen approached a man working at a kiosk at the mall.
“After a brief interaction, the suspect pulled out a knife and began stabbing him multiple times,” police said in a statement on X. “A few bystanders interfered, and were able to separate the suspect from the victim and subdue the suspect until police arrived.”
The victim, who was not identified by authorities, sustained multiple stab wounds and was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to police and court records.
Larsen told investigators that he had “targeted the victim with intent to kill him because of his religion (Muslim),” police said in an affidavit obtained by USA TODAY. The affidavit also states Larsen said he believes he is “a catalyst” and “intends to kill Muslims.”
The incident remains under investigation, and police said they were looking into any possible relationship between the suspect and victim. USA TODAY reached out to the West Valley City Police Department for comment.
Police: Suspect poses a ‘substantial danger to the public’
The suspect approached the Muslim man, asked for his name, asked about his religion, and indicated he wanted a bottle of water, The Salt Lake Tribune reported, citing comments from Imam Shuaib Din, who leads the Utah Islamic Center and had been in contact with the victim’s family.
As the victim turned to get the water, the attacker began stabbing him, Din told the newspaper. Police said in the affidavit that they received multiple 911 calls at around 2:30 p.m. local time reporting two men “involved in a physical altercation where one male was stabbing the other.”
When officers arrived at the scene, they observed bystanders pinning the suspect to the ground and “had already removed the knife from his hand,” according to the affidavit. Police said the victim was “bleeding profusely” and was then transported to the hospital.
The victim was identified by friends as Syed Sohail Uddin, local television station FOX 13 and The New York Times reported. A GoFundMe fundraiser organized on his behalf said he was stabbed 15 times and required multiple surgeries.
Larsen was also transported to the hospital “due to being punched in the head from bystanders trying to get the knife out of his hand,” according to the affidavit. He was later medically cleared and taken to the police station for an interview.
Police said in the affidavit that Larsen posed “a substantial danger to the public if released based on his violent actions today, ideologies and pre-planned mass casualty events.”
Advocates condemn stabbing attack at Utah mall
Muslim advocacy groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), condemned the attack.
“This horrific attack is yet another reminder that anti-Muslim rhetoric has real-world consequences. When Muslims are routinely demonized, portrayed as threats, or treated as less deserving of equal rights and dignity, some twisted individuals inevitably act on that hatred,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement on July 14.
Civil rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia in the United States over the last two-plus decades following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and more recently because of immigration policies and the fallout of the Israel-Hamas war, according to Reuters.
CAIR, which is the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, reported last year that it received a record number of complaints of discrimination and Islamophobic attacks amid the war.
The organization received more than 8,650 complaints in 2024, the highest number since CAIR began publishing its annual civil rights report in 1996, according to the report released in March 2025. Complaints rose more than 7%, breaking the previous record set in 2023.
The Utah attack follows several high-profile incidents targeting Muslims in recent years, including the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois in 2023 and a deadly shooting at a San Diego mosque earlier this year.
Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY; Reuters
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