Nicole McDermott

Source: Granite Board of Education minutes on the Utah Public Notice Website, body 767.

• Public comment as a resident: At the Taylorsville City Council's Aug 21, 2024 Truth-in-Taxation hearing, she spoke in support of the city's proposed tax increase (minutes).

• Local school board (2018, 2020, 2024): Granite board candidates file with the Salt Lake County Clerk.
  • The county's local school board financial disclosures page lists her 2018 interim reports and her 2020 April, June, Sept, and Year-End reports. The underlying filings are hosted on disclosure.slco.org, which was unreachable.
  • 2024 reports are in the county's EasyVote public portal, which requires a CAPTCHA.
  • Totals not retrieved. This is a gap.
• State Board of Education 2026: candidates file with the Lieutenant Governor's office at disclosures.utah.gov. The portal blocks automated access. Totals not retrieved. This is a gap.
• Headline: no campaign-finance figures could be verified.

• Her Granite board conflict-of-interest disclosure (required for school board members under Utah law and district policy) was not retrieved. This is a gap.
• State Board candidate disclosures, if any, are on disclosures.utah.gov and were not retrieved.

• No lobbyist ties found in the public records reviewed. lobbyist.utah.gov was not successfully searched.
• No ethics complaint found in the materials reviewed.

• Office: Member, Granite School District Board of Education, Precinct 4. Board President. Term ends Dec 31, 2028. (Granite Board page)
• Board President since: January 2023 (Granite School District on X).
• Precinct 4 schools (per the Granite Board page):
  • Bennion, Fox Hills, Smith, and Truman elementaries
  • Bennion Jr., Eisenhower, Jefferson, and Kearns Jr.
  • Kearns High and Taylorsville High
• Service: first elected Nov 2018, taking office January 2019. Re-elected 2020 and 2024.
• Next election for this seat: November 2028 [COMPUTED].
• Pending candidacy: She is the Republican nominee for Utah State Board of Education, District 8, on the Nov 3, 2026 general ballot against Araueni Olivares (D). If she is elected, the Precinct 4 seat would presumably be vacated and filled under state law [inference, not verified].

• Party: Granite board races are nonpartisan, and the 2024 Salt Lake County canvass shows her as "(UNA)" (2024 canvass). The 2026 State Board of Education race is partisan, and she won the Republican primary on June 23, 2026 (official results).
• Self-description (campaign Issues and About pages):
  • "fiscally conservative policies"
  • parental rights
  • "Keeping Politics Out of Classrooms"
  • educational choice
  • local control
  • reducing regulations
• Public statement as Board President: In February 2024, Granite's board passed a 6-1 resolution calling on State Board member Natalie Cline to resign. McDermott said the board "seldom passes resolutions; the gravity of this incident compels us to act." (Utah News Dispatch, Feb 9, 2024)

• Email: nmcdermott@graniteschools.org
• Phone: 801-597-6902 (as published on the Granite Board page). The board page also lists a street address; it is intentionally omitted here.
• Official office: Granite Education Center, 2500 S State St, Salt Lake City, UT 84115 (Board of Education)
• Campaign site: https://nicole4stateschoolboard.com/

Gaps

• 2018, 2020, and 2024 campaign finance reports. Custodian: Salt Lake County Clerk (Elections Division).
• 2026 State Board campaign finance reports. Custodian: Lieutenant Governor's Office, Elections. They are public online, but automated access is blocked.
• Granite board conflict-of-interest disclosure. Custodian: Granite School District, Business Administrator / Board Secretary.
• Full vote history before 2026 (Granite minutes 2019–2025 were not systematically reviewed).
• Ethics complaints. Custodian: Granite School District.

One of seven part-time, nonpartisan board members who set policy, the budget and the property tax rate for Granite School District (about 52,000 students), and who hire and oversee the superintendent.

Role

Local school board member, elected by precinct

Hours

Part-time

Pay

about $10,444

Typical week

Two Tuesday evening board meetings a month (5 p.m. reports, 7 p.m. general session), school visits, committees; budget hearing in June and tax hearing in August

Responsibilities and powers

• State law requires a local board to implement the state core standards, give the required tests and use the results to plan improvement, issue grades, build early-warning systems for struggling students, and train administrators (Utah Code 53G-4-402).
• The Granite board "holds public meetings once or twice monthly to establish district policies, approve purchases and budgets, receive reports from district administrators, approve administrative appointments, and conduct other business" (Granite Board of Education).
• Budget and taxes: adopts the district budget (2026–27: $951.8 million in total expenditures) and any property tax increase after a truth-in-taxation hearing (Granite budget development; 2026–27 budget).
• Seven members, elected by precinct to four-year nonpartisan terms (Granite Board). Taylorsville is mostly in Precincts 3 and 4, with a sliver in 6.

A typical week

• Meetings: the 2026 schedule has regular board meetings on the first Tuesday of most months (administrative reports 5:00 p.m., general session 7:00 p.m.), study sessions about two weeks later, a June 16 budget hearing, an Aug. 18 truth-in-taxation hearing, and spring executive sessions for employee negotiations (2026 Board Meeting Schedule). Meetings are at the Granite Education Center, 2500 S State, and broadcast online.
• Seasonal cycle: spring negotiations and budget building, the interim budget in June, the tax hearing in August, and reports on fall enrollment (52,197 projected for fall 2026, down 2,270) (2026–27 budget).
• Between meetings [INFERRED]: reading board packets, visiting schools in the precinct, answering parent emails and calls, attending school community council and graduation events, and committee work.

Time commitment

• Part-time, roughly 5–15 hours a week [INFERRED from two evening meetings a month plus preparation and school visits]. Most members hold other jobs.

Staff and budget

• No personal staff. The board directs the superintendent and district administration, who run a $951.8 million budget for about 52,000 students (2026–27 budget).

Pay

• About $10,444 a year (one member's FY2026 record). Members may join district health, dental and life plans, and expenses are reimbursed. Pay was set in 2019 at 20% of a first-year teacher's salary ($8,696 then) (Transparent Utah; Granite 2019 compensation hearing).

Sources

• Utah Code 53G-4-402
• Granite Board of Education; budget development

Compare with every office →

• Granite Board page graniteschools.org
• Granite School District on X x.com
• 2024 canvass vote.utah.gov
• official results electionresults.utah.gov
• campaign Issues and About pages nicole4stateschoolboard.com
• Utah News Dispatch, Feb 9, 2024 utahnewsdispatch.com
• local school board financial disclosures page saltlakecounty.gov
• disclosures.utah.gov disclosures.utah.gov
• Utah Public Notice Website, body 767 utah.gov
• minutes utah.gov
• minutes utah.gov
• Fox13 fox13now.com
• minutes utah.gov
• minutes utah.gov
• SLCo 2018 general saltlakecounty.gov