Get to Know the Board

The Utah State Board of Education serves as the governing board of Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB). These fifteen board members support USDB and provide guidance as needed. USDB appreciates these members who help education in Utah to be the best it can be. These members live in school districts across the entire state. Serving as a board member can entail a lot of reading, researching, preparation, careful decision making, and it is often a thankless job, so we applaud these individuals for their selfless work.

Jennie Earl, District 1

Jennie Earl graduated from Southern Utah University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a minor in math and special education. She received her master’s degree in Education from Weber State University. Jennie has taught students with special needs for 5 years and currently works at a private school teaching math.

She has advocated for policies that strengthen families. She has served on a number of coalitions that follow federal and state legislation. Jennie and her husband reside in Morgan County with their six children. They love game nights at their home along with tennis, swimming, hiking, basketball, volleyball, etc.

Joseph Kerry, District 2

Joe Kerry’s passion for education came from two amazing women in his life: his mother and his third-grade teacher, Mrs. Thomas. Kerry’s mother was a young girl when her family was forced to flee their home in North Korea. To his mom, education was viewed as a doorway that would open a lifetime of growth, personal responsibility, and learning. Mrs. Thomas took the time to help Kerry grow. Over that school year, she inspired him to learn, read more, and sit still. Classrooms today are filled with teachers like Mrs. Thomas. When we work together, with respect and understanding, we create an environment where students excel and are firmly placed on the pathway to a lifetime of growth, responsibility, and service.

Rod Hall, District 3

New member, photo and bio coming soon.

LeAnn Wood, District 4

LeAnn Wood is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology with an emphasis in teratology, or the study of birth defects. She has spent the last 25 years as a parent volunteer supporting the public education of her five children and advocating for all children. For the past ten years, she has focused on education legislation and policy while serving as the Utah PTA Education Commissioner and Utah PTA Advocacy Vice President. LeAnn has served on numerous state education committees as a parent representative. For the past six years, she has also served as the Secretary for the Utah Public Education Coalition. LeAnn and her husband, Darren, live in Kaysville.

Sarah Reale, District 5

Sarah Reale is a Salt Lake native with a passion for advocacy, education, and a focus on action-oriented student-first strategies to help students reach their academic and career goals. She holds a master’s degree in political science from Utah State University and has spent almost two decades working in higher education, including teaching. Sarah is currently the Director of Digital Marketing and Student Experience at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) where she manages the digital communications for the institution. She is also an adjunct professor of political science at SLCC. Sarah has a decade of research and volunteer-based experience advocating for communities and developing creative and effective solutions that support Utahns.

Carol Lear, District 6

Carol Barlow Lear has advocated for public education for five decades in multiple roles. She grew up in the East Mill Creek area and graduated from Olympus High School and the University of Utah. She is now a mother and grandmother with three opinionated children and nine rambunctious grandchildren. When her children were in local schools, she served on Community Councils and worked with PTA.  Carol was a high school English teacher for five years. She graduated from the S.J. Quinney College of Law in 1982, worked briefly for the Law-Related Education Program and then was the Director of Law and Policy for 27 years at the Utah State Office of Education. She also earned her administrative license in 2000 and was a USU adjunct professor in the Education Leadership Program for 20 years.  She practiced education law with Lear & Lear for nine years and represented many school districts, charter schools and parents. She is finally retired from the practice of law. Carol Lear was first elected to the USBE in 2016, re-elected in 2020, 2022 and 2024. While on the Board she has served on the Professional Practices task force, the School Fees task force, the Student Data Privacy and Governance Committee, the Teacher of the Year Committee, the initial school bullying rule writing committee, the NASBE whole child subcommittee, and as a chair and member of the USBE Law and Licensing Committee.

Molly Hart, District 7

Dr. Molly Hart comes to the State Board having worked in education for over 20 years. She has worked as a substitute teacher, paraprofessional, teacher, assistant principal, and principal in multiple states at all levels from elementary to university. She is currently the executive director of Summit Academy. Dr. Hart is a graduate of Michigan State University, where she received her doctorate in Family-Community Services. She loves learning and has degrees in middle grades education/reading, elementary education, and a doctorate in educational leadership. Dr. Hart’s accolades include recognition for her community service, leadership, and education including Vocational Teacher of the Year and the Utah PTA Outstanding School Administrator Award. Together with her husband, Robert, Dr. Hart is the proud parent of two high school children in the public school system.

Christina Boggess, District 8

Christina Boggess is, first and foremost, a mother. She has served for over 21 years in a variety of educational roles and situations. Her experience includes rural K-12 infrastructures, cluster-modeled schools, podded designs, suburban, urban, and inner-city schools. Broken down, she has served over a decade at the elementary level and the same at the secondary. Her service is inclusive of Title I and Focus Schools as well as top-tier institutions. The leadership she brought forth during her secondary terms earned multiple first-place state-level awards, additional personal accolades, and requests to adjudicate state-level competitions. Christina has served on PBIS and MTSS teams and as a teacher development trainer in English Language Arts, Music, and Arts Integration in the regular classroom, among others. Additionally, her resume boasts over 1000 hours of Microsoft training, 20 additional credentials (across multiple states) applicable to education and ed administration, and executive-level leadership.

Amanda Bollinger, District 9

New member, photo and bio coming soon.

Matt Hymas, District 10

Matt Hymas was raised in West Valley City, Utah. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Teaching from the University of Utah, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Central Michigan University. He has been in education since 2008 as a teacher, coach, athletic director, junior high director, assistant secondary director, high school director, and is currently the Executive Director at Excelsior Academy. Matt is an advocate for education in all forms and believes that regardless of where a family chooses to be educated, it is the best possible education for them.  Matt’s time in the classroom has helped him better understand the needs of students, parents, and teachers. His time as an administrator has brought a different perspective to the needs of families and communities. When he’s not working, Matt enjoys spending time in the mountains — any time he can get to a lake or river for fishing, he’ll take it.

Cindy Davis, District 11

Cindy believes students should be at the heart of every decision made by parents, teachers, and policymakers. Growing up, she attended Jordan District schools, then earned a BA from Brigham Young University, and a Masters of Education Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah. She is a licensed English/reading teacher and school administrator.  She was voted by her peers as the 1997 Teacher of the Year at Oak Canyon Jr. High, the 2006 Instructional Leader of the Year as a principal in Alpine District, and the 2020 Faculty Excellence Award Recipient as a Clinical Adjunct Professor at Utah Valley University. Her public service has included vice chair of the Utah State Board of Education, vice chair of the Law and Licensing Committee and Audit Committee. She currently serves as chair of the Finance Committee. She has also served as PTA president, member of her local district community council, and on the International Area Studies Kennedy Center Advisory Board at BYU. She was the Inaugural Chair of the Department of Ed Advisory Board at UVU and continues to serve there and on the Envision Utah Advisory Board. She values transparency and aspires to be wise and live with an open heart.

Cole Kelley, District 12

New member, photo and bio coming soon.

Randy Boothe, District 13

Randy Boothe is committed to quality public education for Utah’s students, having 16 years’ experience on the Nebo School Board, 14 years on Mountainland Technical College Board of Directors, and 44 years teaching at Brigham Young University. A former Associate Dean in the College of Fine Arts and Communications, Randy enjoyed serving as a Beverley Taylor Sorenson Advisory Board member, on the Oversight Committee for the revision of the Utah Core Arts Standards, and on Utah’s Arts Collective Impact Steering Committee.

An active participant in the BYU Public School Partnership, Randy has taught workshops and seminars in 42 countries. For years, Randy has partnered with Utah’s parents, students, teachers, staff, administrators, and community leaders to develop a shared focus on effective student learning. He believes every Board decision must be considered with students in mind. Randy and his wife, Susan, are the parents of three children and have nine grandchildren.

Emily Green, District 14

From the first time she stepped into her oldest child’s classroom as a volunteer, Emily Green knew that her future was in supporting the public education of Utah’s youth. As a Title I school, it struggled through insufficient resources. Emily stepped up; eventually becoming PTA president and worked hard to provide the funds and support the school needed to thrive.

In 2005, Emily completed her bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Science, with a minor in Early Childhood Development. Emily’s passion for family values in education earned her invitations to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the UN Civil Society, and the World Congress of Families.

Emily and her husband, Mike, have five children of their own, and Emily stays busy with her family, work, and service commitments.

Joann Brinton, District 15

New member, photo and bio coming soon.