Learn about your Education Options

The Utah Schools Navigator is a website dedicated to helping Utah families select education options that fit their students, free of charge. It hosts information about schools and other providers, offers a Schools Near Me search tool, connects you with free one-on-one customer service, and more. We are here to serve Utah parents!

As a parent, you know your child's strengths, weaknesses, and interests and can determine what type of education best fits them. Searching for schools that excel at helping them address their challenges or develop their strengths and interests is a good place to start. The needs of your child might change over time. Understanding your options will help you now and in the future.

When evaluating a school or education provider, you could ask what unique academic or extracurricular programs they offer, how they help students with learning challenges, how they approach accountability and discipline of students, and whether their programs cost money, accept state scholarships, or are free. You may also want to ask what expectations they have for parents and determine your ability to fulfill those.

Utah has robust education choices made available by a range of schools, education providers, and public policies. These include public district schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, microschools, public and private online schools, homeschool resources and hybrids of these.

A charter school is a public school with a contract (or charter) that allows increased flexibility and innovation in exchange for certain oversight features. These schools are free of charge and are open to the public, though admission is not guaranteed.

Charter schools may use lotteries to determine which students to accept when applications exceed the number of available seats. Each charter school has its own application requirements and deadlines.

A microschool is a small multi-age learning environment of about 5-15 students that provides more personalized education. These can be in homes or other places. There is a wide variety of microschool features.

Open enrollment is a policy that allows students to transfer from one public district school to another. Every student is assigned to a public district school based on their ZIP code, but that school is not always the best fit for them. Utah's open enrollment law allows parents to enroll their child in a school outside their assigned school or district if capacity is available. Each district office creates its open enrollment policy and has the authority to accept or deny students. Every district is required to post an updated capacity report on its website so parents know whether there is likely to be space for a given year.

An education savings account (ESA) allows parents to access a scholarship funded with state dollars for state-approved education expenses, creating a personalized education for their child. To receive an ESA, parents must apply. Utah's ESA is called the Utah Fits All Scholarship. To learn more, visit Odyssey or Utah Education Fits All.

A voucher is a state-funded financial subsidy that parents can direct toward the private school tuition of their choice. Utah currently has the Carson Smith Scholarship, which is a voucher, but it is phasing into a new tax credit scholarship over the next few years. To learn more about it, visit the Utah State Board of Education.

A tax credit scholarship is a policy that gives families scholarship money for education expenses, which is paid for by the donations of individuals or businesses that receive a full or partial tax credit for donating to a scholarship granting organization (SGO). To learn about Utah's tax credit scholarship for students with special needs called the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship, visit the Utah State Board of Education or Children First Education Fund.

The Education Freedom Tax Credit, or Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC), was passed in 2025. This program aims to increase education choice by offering scholarships to families nationwide by incentivizing individual taxpayers with up to a $1,700 tax credit for contributions to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). Utah has opted in to the program. Individuals can begin donating and receiving tax credits starting January 1, 2027 (for taxes filed in 2028).

The term LEA stands for "local education agency," which is either a school district or a charter school itself.

No. This website serves as an informational tool and a source of one-on-one support for parents as they make educational decisions. Applications and enrollment are available through outside links.

A parent's right to direct their child's education is protected by federal and state law, including U.S. Supreme Court cases and state statutes. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized a fundamental liberty interest of parents to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children. Utah Code 80-4-104 says that parents retain "the fundamental right and duty to exercise primary control over the care, supervision, upbringing, and education of the parent's child."

Utah Code 53E-2-201 says, "Parents have the primary responsibility for the education of their children."

It also says, "All children of the state are entitled to a free elementary and secondary public education as provided in Utah Constitution, Article X." They are free to choose the public education system or to choose alternatives.

Utah Code 53G-6-803 includes a list of parent requests that an LEA must "reasonably accommodate" including a parent's initial selection of a teacher, parent's request to visit or observe a class their child attends, a parent's written request to put their child in a specialized class, a parent's request to meet with a teacher at a mutually agreed upon time, or the request to retain a child in a grade based upon their ability or maturity.

While parents cannot dictate which curriculum a district approves or a teacher uses in class, they do have the right to review curriculum, with information required to be on each district's website for how to access it, according to Utah Code 53G-4-402.

Utah law requires that there be a transparent process when an LEA adopts district-wide curriculum, including at least two public meetings for teachers and parents to express views (53G-4-402).

Schools are required to notify parents if their student opts out of school curriculum or activity based on the child's or the child's parents' religious belief or conscience (53G-10-205).

Both federal and state law protect student privacy and data while also protecting a parent's right to access their student's education records and other data.

Parents have the right to inspect or review a child's educational records. They have the right to request that an education record they believe is inaccurate or misleading be corrected or amended, according to a federal law called Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Parents must generally give written consent before disclosing personally identifiable information. Parents can file a complaint at the state or federal level if data privacy rights have been violated.

Utah law also protects parents' access to student information. Under Utah Code 53E-9-205, a school or local education agency may not prohibit a parent from accessing the child's education record and generally may not adopt policies or take actions that shield a student's education record from the parent, subject to certain exceptions.

Both federal and state law cover parents' rights on surveys. The federal Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) provides parents with rights concerning certain student surveys, the collection of certain information, access to certain instructional materials, and other student privacy matters.

Parents must give consent for schools to use tests, surveys, or evaluations to ask students for protected information like political affiliation, mental or psychological problems, sexual behavior, orientation, or attitudes, illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior, or more (Utah Code 53E-9-203).

More information can be found in Utah Code 53E, Chapter 9, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), Utah Code, and the Utah State Board of Education Parent Portal.

Both federal and state law create protections for students with disabilities and special needs. Key federal laws include the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Through federal law, children with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Utah Code 53E, Chapter 7 and Utah State Board of Education rules also cover these topics. Parents must give consent to initiate special needs evaluations and services. A parent has many rights related to and throughout the IEP process, including the right to participate in meetings, receive prior written notice of certain proposed actions, and challenge decisions through a dispute resolution process. For more details, review the Accommodations and Special Education page of the Utah State Board of Education Parent Portal, Understanding Your Rights: Special Education Quick Facts, or check out the Utah Parent Center or Disability Law Center.

Utah law requires that local school boards provide a reasonable opportunity for the public, including parents, to provide comments at their meetings.

Utah's open enrollment law requires local school boards to allow nonresident students to enroll in a school if the school has capacity (53G-6-402). It also requires that each district post a capacity report on its website, allowing parents to see whether schools are open or closed (53G-6-403).

Utah parents have the right to homeschool their children. The state has a very flexible homeschool law that simply requires parents to submit a "Notice of Intent" form to their local school district stating that they are going to homeschool. Parents have a high level of autonomy as there is no required curriculum, instruction hours, or testing (53G-6-204).

Homeschool parents can still enroll their students in public school sports and extracurriculars, and their students are still eligible for special education services.