Utah K-12 Email Security Intelligence:
DNS Authentication Profiling of 163 School District LEAs

Lokentra Research Team

Lokentra U.S. Email Security Index (ESI) — State Intelligence Series

April 22, 2026

research@monitorworkspace.com • monitorworkspace.com/scorecard

Abstract

We present DNS email security profiling for 163 K-12 LEAs in Utah, of which 141 have active domains (86.5% coverage). Domains were scored on the Lokentra 100-point Email Security Index (ESI) rubric (SPF 30 pts + DKIM 30 pts + DMARC 40 pts). Utah K-12 districts achieve an average ESI score of 50.2/100, with 28.4% earning Grade A or B (strong posture) and 27.7% receiving Grade F (minimal authentication). Only 58.9% have any DMARC record, and just 24.1% have DMARC at an enforcement level (quarantine or reject) — leaving 41.1% of districts fully vulnerable to email domain spoofing. This report provides entity-level data for all 141 scored domains including provider classification, authentication status, and ESI score, sourced from NCES CCD 2024-2025 and live DNS resolution conducted April 22, 2026.

Keywords: Utah, K-12 email security, DMARC, SPF, school district cybersecurity, DNS authentication, Google Workspace, education technology

1. Dataset Overview

Table 1. Utah K-12 Dataset Summary
Metric	Value
Total K-12 LEAs in state	163
Regular school districts	42
Charter LEAs	115
Other LEA types (state-operated, regional, etc.)	6
LEAs with active internet domain	141 (86.5%)
Domains DNS-profiled	141
Data freshness (NCES CCD)	2024-2025 school year
DNS scan date	April 22, 2026

2. The Human Impact: Populations at Risk

To estimate human exposure, NCES national averages are applied to CCD 2024-2025 operational school counts: 381 students per school, 51 staff per school, and 2 parents or guardians per student. Utah K-12 districts collectively operate approximately 1,095 schools.

Table 2. Estimated Population Exposure from K-12 Email Security Gaps — Utah
Population	Total in Dataset	At Risk (No DMARC, 41.1%)	Critically Exposed (Grade F, 27.7%)
Students	417,195	171,467	115,563
Parents and guardians	834,390	342,934	231,126
Staff and educators	55,845	22,952	15,469
Total people	1,307,430	537,353	362,158

Estimates based on NCES national averages. Individual district enrollment data can be linked via NCES LEAID for precise counts.

3. Authentication Findings

3.1 Protocol Adoption

Table 3. Email Authentication Protocol Adoption — Utah K-12
Protocol	Utah	National K-12 (ESI)	vs. National
SPF (any configuration)	73.8%	79.7%	-5.9pp
DKIM (key published)	61.7%	59.6%	+2.1pp
DMARC (any policy)	58.9%	55.5%	+3.4pp
DMARC at enforcement (quarantine/reject)	24.1%	~21.0%	+3.1pp
DMARC at reject (full enforcement)	7.1%	~12.2%	-5.1pp
No MX records (not receiving email)	5.7%	~10.0%	-4.3pp

3.2 ESI Grade Distribution

Table 4. ESI Score Grade Distribution — Utah K-12
Grade	Score	Districts	Share	Interpretation
A	90–100	13	9.2%	Full enforcement
B	70–89	27	19.1%	Strong posture
C	50–69	49	34.8%	Partial protection
D	30–49	13	9.2%	Weak configuration
F	0–29	39	27.7%	Minimal/no authentication
Average score		50.2 / 100

3.3 Email Provider Distribution

Table 5. Email Provider Distribution — Utah K-12 (top providers)
Provider	Districts	Share
Google Workspace	102	72.3%
Microsoft 365	19	13.5%
Proofpoint	2	1.4%
GoDaddy	1	0.7%
Barracuda	1	0.7%

4. District-Level Data

4.1 Top Performing Districts (Best ESI Scores)

Table 6. Top 15 Utah K-12 Districts by ESI Score
District	Domain	County	Provider	SPF	DKIM	DMARC Policy	Score	Grade
Beaver District	`beaver.k12.ut.us`	Beaver County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	reject	100	A
Weilenmann School of Discovery	`wsdpc.org`	Summit County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	reject	100	A
Washington District	`washk12.org`	Washington County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	reject	100	A
Renaissance Academy	`renacademy.org`	Utah County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	reject	95	A
Canyons District	`canyonsdistrict.org`	Salt Lake County	Proofpoint	✓	✓	reject	95	A
Freedom Preparatory Academy	`freedomprep.net`	Utah County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
Beehive Science & Technology Academy	`beehiveacademy.org`	Salt Lake County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
Gateway Preparatory Academy	`gpacharter.org`	Iron County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
Daggett District	`dsdf.org`	Daggett County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
Granite District	`graniteschools.org`	Salt Lake County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
Morgan District	`morgansd.org`	Morgan County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
North Summit District	`nsummit.org`	Summit County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
South Summit District	`ssummit.org`	Summit County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
American Leadership Academy	`americanleadership.net`	Utah County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	85	B
Success Academy	`successacademy.org`	Iron County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	85	B

4.2 Districts Most in Need of Improvement (Lowest ESI Scores)

Table 7. Bottom 15 Utah K-12 Districts by ESI Score
District	Domain	County	Provider	SPF	DKIM	DMARC Policy	Grade
Soldier Hollow Charter School	`mysoldierhollow.com`	Wasatch County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Pinnacle Canyon Academy	`pcaschool.com`	Carbon County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Uintah River High	`uintahriverwarriors.org`	Uintah County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
City Academy	`cityacademyslc.org`	Salt Lake County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Salt Lake Arts Academy	`saltlakeartsacademy.org`	Salt Lake County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Moab Charter School	`moabcharterschool.org`	Grand County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Navigator Pointe Academy	`npacademy.org`	Salt Lake County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
East Hollywood High	`easthollywood.org`	Salt Lake County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Noah Webster Academy	`noahwebsteracademy.org`	Utah County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Paradigm High School	`paradigmschools.org`	Salt Lake County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
No. UT. Acad. for Math Engineering & Science	`nuames.org`	Davis County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Edith Bowen Laboratory School	`edithbowen.usu.edu`	Cache County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Salt Lake Center for Science Education	`slcse.slcschools.org`	Salt Lake County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Open Classroom	`ocslc.org`	Salt Lake County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Merit College Preparatory Academy	`meritacademy.org`	Utah County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F

4.3 County-Level Summary (Top 10 Counties by District Count)

Table 8. Utah County Distribution
County	Districts	Website Coverage
Salt Lake County	49	85.7%
Utah County	28	92.9%
Davis County	13	92.3%
Weber County	13	61.5%
Cache County	8	100.0%
Washington County	7	85.7%
Summit County	5	100.0%
Iron County	4	75.0%
Tooele County	4	100.0%
Carbon County	3	66.7%

5. Policy Implications

These findings identify specific, actionable gaps in Utah's K-12 email security posture. The 41.1% DMARC gap represents districts that can be impersonated by any sender, enabling phishing campaigns targeting parents, students, and educators with no authentication failure. Key observations:

Immediate risk: 39 districts (27.7%) have Grade F scores, indicating minimal or no email authentication. These represent the highest-priority remediation targets.
Mid-tier stagnation: 49 districts (34.8%) are in the C range — typically have SPF but no DMARC or weak DMARC (p=none). Upgrading to p=quarantine would move them to B without infrastructure changes.
Provider leverage: Google Workspace (used by 72.3% of scored districts) provides automated SPF/DKIM configuration. Districts on Google Workspace with Grade F scores have misconfigured or missing DMARC — a free and simple fix.

6. Data Availability

The full Utah K-12 dataset — 163 entities with NCES CCD enrichment (phone, address, grade span, school count, LEAID) and DNS authentication profiles — is available as part of the Lokentra ESI State Pack.

Table 9. Licensing Tiers
Tier	Scope	Suggested Use
State Pack: Utah	All 163 K-12 LEAs, full DNS profile + CCD enrichment	Regional studies, state policy, outreach
K-12 National	All 50 states, 20,021+ K-12 LEAs	National K-12 cybersecurity research
Full Registry	801,359+ entities across all sectors	Comprehensive multi-sector research
API + Updates	Quarterly re-scan, REST API	Longitudinal studies, live dashboards

Contact: research@monitorworkspace.com — Free demo at monitorworkspace.com/scorecard

Citation: Lokentra Research Team (2026). Utah K-12 Email Security Intelligence: DNS Authentication Profiling of 163 School District LEAs. Lokentra U.S. Email Security Index (ESI) — State Intelligence Series. https://lokentra-site.web.app/research/states/ut-k12-paper.html

Data sources: NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-2025; DNS records resolved via Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8) and Cloudflare (1.1.1.1). All entity data derived from publicly accessible government registries.

National baseline figures from Lokentra U.S. Education Sector Email Security Intelligence Dataset (March 2026). See education-dataset-paper.html for full methodology.

Utah K-12 Email Security Intelligence:DNS Authentication Profiling of 163 School District LEAs