The Utah State Board of Education has announced two finalists to fill the State Superintendent of Public Instruction spot when Sydnee Dickson leaves at the end of June.
Utah needs a new state superintendent of public instruction. The two finalists have taken different paths in education.
The Utah State Board of Education has announced two finalists to fill the State Superintendent of Public Instruction spot when Sydnee Dickson leaves at the end of June.
The two candidates — L. Ben Dalton and Molly L. Hart — will be publicly interviewed by the full board on Wednesday, from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m., a news release from the Utah State Board of Education said. The board will then choose the new superintendent that evening, the release said.
The pick will succeed Sydnee Dickson, Utah’s current state superintendent, who announced in January that she plans to resign from her job at the end of June. Dickson has been overseeing Utah’s public K-12 education system for the last nine years.
Dalton is currently the superintendent of Kane County School District, a position he has held since 2016. He is a first-generation college graduate from Minersville, the news release said, and has more than 20 years of public education experience. He was named Utah’s Superintendent of the Year in 2022, and has a doctorate in leadership and technology.
(Kane County School District) L. Ben Dalton, superintendent of the Kane County School District. Dalton is one of two finalists to become State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Utah State Board of Education announced on May 16, 2025.
Hart, from Sandy, currently sits on the Utah State Board of Education. She is executive director of Summit Academy, a K-12 charter in Bluffdale, and has more than 20 years of education experience ranging from teacher to principal, the release said. She has a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Valdosta State University,and has been given the Utah PTA Outstanding School Administrator Award.
Read about Hart’s views on education issues, in this voter guide from her 2024 race for reelection to her District 7 seat on the state school board.
The Salt Lake Tribune will update this developing story.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Board vice chair Molly Hart, District 7, listens during a 2025 meeting for the Utah State Board of Education in Salt Lake City. Hart is one of two finalists for the job of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the school board announced on Friday, May 16, 2025.