Granite School District has been awarded a multimillion-dollar grant as part of a U.S. Department of Education initiative to enhance programs that recruit, train and mentor principals and assistant principals for high-need schools.

Granite’s economically and culturally diverse student body (44% are ethnic minorities; 22% come from families that live below the poverty line) presents unique challenges for school administrators as they seek to enhance student achievement.

The School Leadership Pipeline grant will provide additional resources for school leaders in persistently low-achieving schools, focus schools, and priority schools.

The funds will be used to create new programs to recruit, train, mentor, and provide on-going professional support for principals and assistant principals. In addition, Granite will partner with the University of Utah to develop a new course of study that leads to state licensure and a master’s degree in school leadership.

Granite was one of only three school districts nationwide to receive the five-year grant, which totals $4,983,715 for the district. The other 16 recipients were universities, private enterprises, or consortia of schools.