There were only 60 seconds more rousing than watching the race, a minute where I was sure I was at the edge of death: climbing the Weber High bleachers.

Terrifying.

Considering the financial turmoil Weber School District appears to be in, those bleachers aren’t getting fixed anytime soon. Thank goodness for the bushes below breaking a fall.

Between the threatened closure of Lomond View Elementary over repair costs and the fact neighbors, businesses and Weber County RAMP are helping fund the new all-abilities playground at Green Acres Elementary, it’s becoming increasingly clear Weber School District has serious financial problems.

WSD’s hair is on fire but also the emperor has no clothes.

Parents are watching a slow erosion of trust as signs of a possible financial crisis pile up.

I’ve heard tell this shortfall falls at the feet of state lawmakers, which tracks. Their method of legislation is often fire, aim, ready as witnessed by both their law to install expensive security upgrades and the Utah Fits All fleecing without a clear place for funding or oversight. Districts were left holding the bag.

Those districts haven’t been repeatedly in the news over funding questions either.

As I drive past modern super-schools like West Field, Silver Ridge, Orchard Springs and Mountain View Junior High, I wonder if there isn’t more to the budget story. Whomever is to blame, there’s clearly a budgetary issue happening and our kids and teachers are paying the price.

The first sign the sky was falling was a proposed 21.75% tax hike in 2025.

In the end, Weber School District’s Board of Education approved a 5.64% increase instead. In an email sent to me last year after I questioned the proposed hike, Superintendent Gina Butters wrote that the increase was “modest in comparison” to other municipalities and school districts around the state.

But regular people don’t experience tax increases individually anymore.

City taxes go up. County taxes go up. School district taxes go up. Fees go up. Insurance goes up. Groceries go up. At some point, “modest” stops feeling modest.

The second sign the sky was falling was the threatened closure of Lomond View Elementary.

In that same email, Butters wrote:

“Lomond View is one of our oldest and most difficult and expensive schools to maintain. In reality, closing this school would be fiscally responsible and ensure savings, over future years, in significant maintenance and operational costs.”

The solution wasn’t to use repair and replace funds on Lomond View’s roof and air conditioning, because there aren’t any. The solution was to close the school.

Parents fought back and, for now, kept the doors open. But according to district officials, elementary enrollment dropped by nearly 800 students this year alone, resulting in an estimated $4 million loss in funding.

The third sign the sky was falling was parents fundraising for playgrounds because the district won’t pay.

Across North Ogden, signs sit in park strips and front lawns asking neighbors to donate toward new all-abilities playgrounds at Green Acres Elementary. Community organizers raised roughly $200,000 with help from a Weber County RAMP match grant and private business stepping in to get it across the finish line.

That kind of community effort deserves a standing ovation.

It wasn’t Weber School District footing the bill for a basic school playground. It was parents, businesses and taxpayers stepping in to close the gap.

That’s what’s causing the growing frustration.

It is not just aging equipment or old buildings, but the feeling that communities are increasingly being asked to subsidize things they assumed their school taxes already covered.

The fourth sign the sky was falling was teachers being displaced and denied a raise.

Teachers who have served the district for over 20 years are being told there isn’t a place for them anymore. Their options are retire, move or face a layoff.

In a statement to Fox 13, the district wrote:

“Due to declining student enrollment at numerous schools throughout the district, we have been faced with the very difficult decision of having to reduce staffing numbers based on student-to-teacher ratios.”

Nearly two-dozen district employees and teachers are out of a job. It’s wild considering it was just three years ago WSD spoke about teacher retention being a goal amid a nationwide shortage. Classroom sizes are about to balloon based on the new student-to-teacher ratios.

Teachers also won’t get their step increases, often given for years of service and continued education. When there’s no Cost-of-Living Increase or step, there’s a funding problem.

I’m also hearing from teachers that programs are disappearing like language classes, electives and the usual first casualties when budgets get tight: art, music and theater.

And this is where the math ain’t mathing for parents.

Newer schools opened in just the last few years. Massive facilities were built. Yet now we’re hearing about budget shortfalls, growing class sizes, displaced teachers and deferred maintenance.

Obviously, Weber School District can’t control declining birth rates or every unfunded mandate handed down by the Legislature.

At this point, I think taxpayers deserve a full and transparent accounting of where our education dollars are being spent and what the actual plan is to get Weber School District back on track before the whole sky comes crumbling down over Weber County or the bleachers collapse. Those bushes don’t look thick enough to hold me.