Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Enrolled Copy                                                                             H.B. 331
                        SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM AMENDMENTS
                                           2024 GENERAL SESSION
                                                STATE OF UTAH
                                      Chief Sponsor: Douglas R. Welton Senate Sponsor: Lincoln Fillmore
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  LONG TITLE
  General Description:
      This bill addresses school enrollment through kindergarten enrollment requirements and
  certain notices to a school regarding students taken into custody.
  Highlighted Provisions:
      This bill:
      ▸ requires the State Board of Education to create rules regarding toilet training as a
  condition for kindergarten enrollment;
      ▸ amends a provision regarding notices from a peace or probation officer regarding a
  student taken into custody to include a superintendent's designee; and
      ▸ makes technical changes.
  Money Appropriated in this Bill:
      None
  Other Special Clauses:
      None
  Utah Code Sections Affected:
  AMENDS:
      53G-7-203, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapters 347, 467
      53G-8-403, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 161
      80-6-103, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 161
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  Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
        Section 1. Section 53G-7-203 is amended to read:
        53G-7-203 . Kindergartens -- Establishment -- Funding -- Assessment.
  (1) Kindergartens are an integral part of the state's public education system.
  (2) (a) Each LEA governing board shall provide kindergarten classes free of charge for
     H.B. 331                                                                               Enrolled Copy
       kindergarten children residing within the district or attending the charter school.
       (b) Each LEA governing board shall provide a half-day kindergarten option for a student
            if the student's parent requests a half-day option.
       (c) Nothing in this Subsection (2):
            (i) allows an LEA governing board to require a student to participate in a full-day
                kindergarten program;
            (ii) modifies the non-compulsory status of kindergarten under Title 53G, Chapter 6,
                Part 2, Compulsory Education; or
            (iii) requires a student who only attends a half day of kindergarten to participate in
                dual enrollment under Section 53G-6-702.
   (3) Kindergartens established under Subsection (2) shall receive state money under Title
       53F, Public Education System -- Funding.
   (4) (a) The state board shall:
            (i) develop and collect data from a kindergarten assessment that the board selects by
                rule; and
            (ii) make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative
                Rulemaking Act, regarding the administration of and reporting regarding the
                assessment described in Subsection (4)(a)(i).
       (b) An LEA shall:
            (i) administer the assessment described in Subsection (4)(a) to each kindergarten
                student; and
            (ii) report to the state board the results of the assessment described in Subsection
                (4)(b)(i) in relation to each kindergarten student in the LEA.
   (5) [Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, the] The state board shall require LEAs to
       report average daily membership for all kindergarten students who attend kindergarten
       on a schedule that is equivalent in length to the schedule for grades 1 through 3 with the
       October 1 data described in Section 53F-2-302.
   (6) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the
       state board shall make rules to:
       (a) beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, require a student to be toilet trained
            before being enrolled in kindergarten;
       (b) establish requirements for an LEA's kindergarten enrollment process to include
            assurances from a parent that the parent's student is toilet trained;
       (c) create a process for an LEA to follow when an enrolled student in kindergarten is
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     Enrolled Copy                                                                                   H.B. 331
          found to not be toilet trained, including:
          (i) referring the student and the student's parent to a school social worker or
              counselor for additional family supports and resources;
          (ii) allowing a parent or the parent's adult designee to aid in toilet training as needed;
              and
          (iii) when needed, reintegration of a student once the student has become toilet
              trained; and
      (d) create exemptions from the requirement in Subsection (6)(a) for a student who is not
          able to be toilet trained before kindergarten because of a condition described in an
          IEP or Section 504 accommodation plan.
        Section 2. Section 53G-8-403 is amended to read:
        53G-8-403 . Superintendent required to notify school.
  (1) Within three days of receiving a notification from the juvenile court or a law
      enforcement agency under Section 80-6-103, the district superintendent or the
      superintendent's designee shall notify the principal of the school the juvenile attends or
      last attended.
  (2) Upon receipt of the information, the principal shall:
      (a) make a notation in a secure file other than the student's permanent file; and
      (b) if the student is still enrolled in the school, notify staff members who, in his opinion,
          should know of the adjudication.
  (3) A person receiving information pursuant to this part may only disclose the information
      to other persons having both a right and a current need to know.
  (4) Access to secure files shall be limited to persons authorized to receive information
      under this part.
        Section 3. Section 80-6-103 is amended to read:
        80-6-103 . Notification to a school -- Civil and criminal liability.
  (1) As used in this section:
      (a) "School" means a school in a local education agency.
      (b) "Local education agency" means a school district, a charter school, or the Utah
          Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
      (c) "School official" means:
          (i) the school superintendent, or the school superintendent's designee, of the district
              in which the minor resides or attends school; or
          (ii) if there is no school superintendent for the school, the principal, or the principal's
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      H.B. 331                                                                                  Enrolled Copy
                designee, of the school where the minor attends.
       (d) "Transferee school official" means:
            (i) the school superintendent, or the school superintendent's designee, of the district
                in which the minor resides or attends school if the minor is admitted to home
                detention; or
            (ii) if there is no school superintendent for the school, the principal, or the principal's
                designee, of the school where the minor attends if the minor is admitted to home
                detention.
   (2) A notification under this section is provided for a minor's supervision and student safety.
   (3) (a) If a minor is taken into temporary custody under Section 80-6-201 for a violent
       felony or an offense in violation of Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 5, Weapons, the peace
       officer, or other person who has taken the minor into temporary custody, shall notify
       a school official within five days after the day on which the minor is taken into
       temporary custody.
       (b) A notification under this Subsection (3) shall only disclose:
            (i) the name of the minor;
            (ii) the offense for which the minor was taken into temporary custody or admitted to
                detention; and
            (iii) if available, the name of the victim if the victim resides in the same school
                district as the minor or attends the same school as the minor.
   (4) After a detention hearing for a minor who is alleged to have committed a violent felony,
       or an offense in violation of Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 5, Weapons, the juvenile court
       shall order a juvenile probation officer to notify a school official, or a transferee school
       official, and the appropriate local law enforcement agency of the juvenile court's
       decision, including any disposition, order, or no-contact order.
   (5) If a designated staff member of a detention facility admits a minor to home detention
       under Section 80-6-205 and notifies the juvenile court of that admission, the juvenile
       court shall order a juvenile probation officer to notify a school official, or a transferee
       school official, and the appropriate local law enforcement agency that the minor has
       been admitted to home detention.
   (6) (a) If the juvenile court adjudicates a minor for an offense of violence or an offense
       in violation of Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 5, Weapons, the juvenile court shall order a
       juvenile probation officer to notify a school official, or a transferee school official, of
       the adjudication.
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      Enrolled Copy                                                                                  H.B. 331
      (b) A notification under this Subsection (6) shall be given to a school official, or a
          transferee school official, within three days after the day on which the minor is
          adjudicated.
      (c) A notification under this section shall include:
          (i) the name of the minor;
          (ii) the offense for which the minor was adjudicated; and
          (iii) if available, the name of the victim if the victim:
              (A) resides in the same school district as the minor; or
              (B) attends the same school as the minor.
  (7) If the juvenile court orders probation under Section 80-6-702, the juvenile court shall
      order a juvenile probation officer to notify the appropriate local law enforcement agency
      and the school official of the juvenile court's order for probation.
  (8) (a) An employee of the local law enforcement agency, or the school the minor
      attends, who discloses a notification under this section is not:
          (i) civilly liable except when the disclosure constitutes fraud or willful misconduct as
              provided in Section 63G-7-202; and
          (ii) civilly or criminally liable except when the disclosure constitutes a knowing
              violation of Section 63G-2-801.
      (b) An employee of a governmental agency is immune from any criminal liability for
          failing to provide the information required by this section, unless the employee fails
          to act due to malice, gross negligence, or deliberate indifference to the consequences.
  (9) (a) A notification under this section shall be classified as a protected record under
      Section 63G-2-305.
      (b) All other records of disclosures under this section are governed by Title 63G,
          Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act, and the Family
          Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g.
        Section 4. Effective date.
      This bill takes effect on May 1, 2024.
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Statutes affected: 
H.B. 331 1st Substitute (Not Adopted) Text: 53G-7-203, 53G-8-403, 80-6-103
Enrolled: 53G-7-203, 53G-8-403, 80-6-103
Amended: 53G-7-203, 53G-8-403, 80-6-103
Introduced: 53G-7-203, 53G-8-403, 80-6-103