Nick Hill said he’s thought for a while about running for a local elected office. But he didn’t decide it would be the school board until last November, when his son’s elementary school — Parley’s Park — was embroiled in a controversy about how it enforced a county mask mandate.
“Well, it really goes back to fall last year when there were a number of, let's call them issues, with enforcing health mandates,” he said.
Hill is 44 and lives in Lower Pinebrook, which puts him in the same district as Board President Erin Grady. Grady announced last week she is seeking reelection. Barring a write-in campaign, theirs will be the only two names on the ballot for that seat in November.
Hill is a project manager for Willis Towers Watson, a multinational corporation that deals in risk management and insurance, among other areas. A native of England, Hill has lived in the U.S. for 14 years and became an American citizen in 2019. He recently completed a master’s degree in organizational leadership.
Hill said increasing transparency is key for the school board, especially in light of what he called the “vast sum” of money — around $80 million — that voters recently approved for new school buildings.
“I think the first thing is that, you know, a lot of the incidents that have happened have just broken trust with the school board. A lot of parents now question how those decisions are being made and I think it's very difficult to do other things until you can rebuild that trust,” he said.
Hill also mentioned the importance of standing up for teachers amid what he called a state and national effort to inhibit educators from doing their jobs.
There are two seats up for election on the Park City Board of Education. In the race for seat four, incumbent Kara Hendrickson opted not to run again and four others have filed, which will lead to a primary.
