The Utah Department of Health and Human Services and Weber School District ask permission for your child to take the Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey.
The Utah Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) Survey is a collaborative, multi-agency initiative designed to consolidate youth prevention/health survey projects into one biannual survey administration. SHARP has been conducted in the spring of odd-numbered years in the State of Utah since 2003. The survey focuses primarily on grades 6, 8, 10, and 12.
The SHARP survey will be given to 6th through 12th grade students. It’s anonymous and asks questions about physical, social, and mental health; substance use; social connections; basic demographics; risky or harmful behaviors—and what protects kids from these things.
The questions your child gets depend on the grade they are in. Sixth graders do not get the same survey as older students. It's taken during school and takes about 30-45 minutes. You can find the survey questions here or in the school office.
The SHARP survey has provided insight into things affecting our kids for more than 20 years. It helps parents know what to talk about with their kids, like vaping. It also helps school administrators, teachers, parents, public health, and community leaders work together to help Utah students with increasing protective factors and decreasing risk factors.
All responses are anonymous and confidential. We don’t collect any information that could identify your child or your family. Students are not asked for identifying information, like their name or student ID. Results are reported at a local level and available to parents online. Results are also shared with your local school district, health department, and researchers.
Schools are given a unique URL. Students who have permission to take the survey use the URL specific to their school. The online survey does not require students to log in and does not track any identifying information or data associated with their device (like their computer or tablet).
Utah law requires permission for your child to participate in the survey. Your child may stop the survey at any time or skip questions if they choose. They will not be penalized for not participating.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services reviews the data in aggregate to learn about potentially harmful student behaviors. Reports with aggregate data at the state, region, and demographics level are made available online. These reports do not contain any identifying information about students. Local health departments, local prevention coalitions, local schools and school districts, superintendents, health systems, public health professionals, and most importantly, parents use these reports to develop programs and services to help Utah youth and families.
School district or school-level data reports are not shared publicly online. These reports are only available from your local school district or school. District authorities (like superintendents or lead administrators of charter schools) have password-protected access to see their district-level data in the webtool. These reports do not contain any identifying information about students.
We do not release data in any of these reports unless there are a minimum of 20 students. This helps protect the confidentiality and data privacy of students and school districts.
You can also find information about how SHARP data is used and who it is shared with on the SHARP website, along with answers about other common questions
The raw data is very limited in who can or can't use it and is protected under strict Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Institutional Review Board (IRB) controls. The DHHS IRB controls any data sharing agreements for the raw data files. Only respected researchers in good standing and who are expanding the general sphere of knowledge are considered for data sharing agreements. Individuals wanting to use the raw data for their own purposes are not considered. However, no identifying information about a student is collected in the SHARP survey.
Other than the DHHS, whose survey it is, Weber School District does not have a contract with any person or governmental entity to receive the data on a regular ongoing basis.
Students who have been excluded from participation in the surveys will be given an educationally relevant activity to engage in while the other students are completing the surveys.
The survey will be offered in the February-March 2025.
For questions about the SHARP survey, contact Ryan Carrier (801-889-8710 rcarrier@utah.gov), Mary Johnstun (801-842-2682 mary@bach-harrison.com), or the DHHS Institutional Review Board Email DHHS Institutional Review Board.
Weber School District values the partnership we have with parents in educating their children. If you approve of your child’s participation in this surveys, indicate your consent indicating in the appropriate place in the registration materials on PowerSchool.
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