Park City School District ousts COO Mike Tanner amid controversy, signals new era

Park City School District officials announced last week they have eliminated Chief Operating Officer Mike Tanner’s position Photo: Park City School District

PARK CITY, Utah – Park City School District (PCSD) officials announced last week they have eliminated Chief Operating Officer Mike Tanner’s position as part of cost-cutting measures introduced by new Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman.

Citing a desire to reduce administrative overhead costs, the district also pointed to declining enrollment and planned school consolidation, including the closure of Treasure Mountain Jr. High at the end of the 2024–2025 school year. Tanner’s responsibilities will be distributed among other district officials, according to the statement. They said he will remain available through June 30, 2025, to assist with the transition.

Tanner’s departure follows mounting controversy over his tenure and marks the end of a turbulent era under former Superintendent Jill Gildea, who hired Tanner as the district’s first COO. According to transparent Utah, over a six year period Tanner earned more than $1.6 million in salary and benefits. He oversaw campus safety, managed a $150 million construction project.

Questionable leadership at Park City School District

Under Gildea’s leadership, several issues contributed to growing scrutiny of Tanner’s role and the district’s broader leadership culture. Two of these incidents triggered state-level investigations. 

Remote work and high compensation

In November, The Park Record reported that Tanner—the highest-paid COO in Utah’s K-12 public school system, earning over $394,000 annually—had been living in Chicago for half the year since his hiring in 2019. This revelation raised concerns about his availability and oversight, particularly during a major construction project that came under state audit scrutiny. 

The audits found serious deficiencies in the district’s internal controls, including failures to comply with environmental regulations. One of the most troubling findings was the long-term storage of contaminated soil—containing dangerous levels of lead and arsenic—on school property for six years, posing significant health risks. The contaminated soil issue was so serious that it nearly resulted in a federal takeover of cleanup efforts.

Misrepresentation of military status

Following that, a group of PCSD employees came forward with additional allegations against Tanner. A letter sent by part-time bus driver Ned Reilly, a retired Army Colonel, alleged Tanner stored his car in the school bus barn during summers while he was in Chicago and where district mechanics serviced it for him.

The letter’s most serious claim alleged that Tanner falsely stated his remote work arrangement was necessary for military duties. Reilly asserted that Tanner was not an active Air Force reservist, contradicting previous public statements made by Tanner and former Superintendent Jill Gildea.

Reilly, who spent half his military career in Army HR roles, said, “If a person takes military leave and is not in the military, it could be fraud.” According to Caleb Fine and Craig Jensen, there is no evidence of Tanner requesting or taking military leave during his tenure with PCSD. “He was simply ‘teleworking’ at the discretion of Gildea, Fine, and the School Board,” Reilly wrote in an email to TownLift.

Emails from then-interim Superintendent Caleb Fine to local media and Reilly in December confirmed that an internal investigation found Tanner had been retired from the Air Force Reserves for years. Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson later told Reilly that falsely claiming military service to justify absences from work could constitute fraud against the district and suggested he contact law enforcement.

Reilly relayed Olson’s recommendation to district officials, but HR Director Craig Jensen reportedly told him no fraud had occurred. After learning that Jensen never contacted law enforcement, Reilly did so himself. The case was then escalated to the Utah Attorney General’s Office, which conducted an investigation, including several days at the district office. However, the Attorney General ultimately declined to prosecute Tanner, citing difficulties in proving wrongdoing.

District officials have not publicly commented on any aspect of the criminal investigation. 

Questions regarding “extra-duty” contracts

In January, School Board President Meredith Reed told KPCW that the district was also conducting an independent investigation into district office policies, with results expected in February. That investigation was reportedly examining issues such as Tanner holding two contracts for overlapping duties—an unlawful practice—and other irregularities in district office contracts and compensation under former Superintendent Jill Gildea and former School Board President Andrew Caplan.

Huntsman and the School Board declined to comment further on the findings of that investigation following the reduction in force.

Current district policy explains Extra Duty contracts must be defined “in conjunction with but not a part of the regular work assignment and must fall outside of regular contract time,” the policy reads.

A new era at PCSD

On Friday, district officials issued a public statement signaling a shift in leadership priorities:

“The Park City Board of Education acknowledges the significant concerns of our community after media reports in 2024 regarding finances and behavior of administrative staff at the School District.”

The Board also condemned public and personal attacks on Park Record freelancer Michelle Deininger, who investigated Tanner’s conduct:

“This should not have happened and must not happen in the future. We – the Park City Board of Education – stand firmly against bullying in all its forms, both inside and outside of our school buildings.”

Despite contesting claims made in The Park Record, the district never publicly addressed its findings. A public records request revealed that PCSD spent over $11,000 on defamation attorneys in an unsuccessful attempt to have the report retracted. The district claimed Tanner did not spend significant time in Chicago and disputed his reported salary, but never requested a correction.

PCSD is the largest taxing entity in Summit County, receiving 70% of property tax revenue to fund its $100 million-plus budget.