Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LEGISLATIVE GENERAL COUNSEL                                             H.B. 234
Approved for Filing: M.E. Curtis 6                              1st Sub. (Buff)
         6 01-28-22 9:13 AM 6
                    Representative Jordan D. Teuscher proposes the following substitute bill:
                PUBLIC EDUCATOR CURRICULUM TRANSPARENCY
                                         REQUIREMENTS
                                       2022 GENERAL SESSION
                                           STATE OF UTAH
                              Chief Sponsor: Jordan D. Teuscher
                                  Senate Sponsor: ____________
 7
 LONG TITLE
 General Description:
        This bill enacts transparency and notice requirements for local education agencies and
 schools regarding curricula, class syllabi, and associated learning materials used for
 student instruction.
 Highlighted Provisions:
        This bill:
        < defines terms;
        < requires local school boards and charter school governing boards to formally adopt
 curricula used within the local education agency;
        < requires class syllabi to be made available and updated online including a
 description of associated learning materials used for student instruction;
        < requires schools to make learning materials available for parent inspection at         1st Sub. H.B. 234
 schools; and
        < makes technical and conforming changes.
 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
        None
 Other Special Clauses:
     *HB0234S01*
       1st Sub. (Buff) H.B. 234                                                       01-28-22 9:13 AM
        This bill provides a special effective date.
 Utah Code Sections Affected:
 AMENDS:
        53G-4-402, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapters 84, 262, 324, and 345
        53G-5-404, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapter 324
 ENACTS:
        53G-10-103, Utah Code Annotated 1953
33
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
        Section 1. Section 53G-4-402 is amended to read:
        53G-4-402. Powers and duties generally.
        (1) A local school board shall:
        (a) implement the core standards for Utah public schools using instructional materials
 that best correlate to the core standards for Utah public schools and graduation requirements;
        (b) administer tests, required by the state board, which measure the progress of each
 student, and coordinate with the state superintendent and state board to assess results and create
 plans to improve the student's progress, which shall be submitted to the state board for
 approval;
        (c) use progress-based assessments as part of a plan to identify schools, teachers, and
 students that need remediation and determine the type and amount of federal, state, and local
 resources to implement remediation;
        (d) for each grading period and for each course in which a student is enrolled, issue a
 grade or performance report to the student:
        (i) that reflects the student's work, including the student's progress based on mastery,
 for the grading period; and
        (ii) in accordance with the local school board's adopted grading or performance
 standards and criteria;
        (e) develop early warning systems for students or classes failing to make progress;
        (f) work with the state board to establish a library of documented best practices,
 consistent with state and federal regulations, for use by the local districts;
        (g) implement training programs for school administrators, including basic
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       01-28-22 9:13 AM                                                       1st Sub. (Buff) H.B. 234
 management training, best practices in instructional methods, budget training, staff
 management, managing for learning results and continuous improvement, and how to help
 every child achieve optimal learning in basic academic subjects; and
           (h) ensure that the local school board meets the data collection and reporting standards
 described in Section 53E-3-501.
           (2) Local school boards shall spend Minimum School Program funds for programs and
 activities for which the state board has established minimum standards or rules under Section
 53E-3-501.
           (3) (a) A local school board may purchase, sell, and make improvements on school
 sites, buildings, and equipment and construct, erect, and furnish school buildings.
           (b) School sites or buildings may only be conveyed or sold on local school board
 resolution affirmed by at least two-thirds of the members.
           (4) (a) A local school board may participate in the joint construction or operation of a
 school attended by children residing within the district and children residing in other districts
 either within or outside the state.
           (b) Any agreement for the joint operation or construction of a school shall:
           (i) be signed by the president of the local school board of each participating district;
           (ii) include a mutually agreed upon pro rata cost; and
           (iii) be filed with the state board.
           (5) A local school board may establish, locate, and maintain elementary, secondary,
 and applied technology schools.
           (6) Except as provided in Section 53E-3-905, a local school board may enroll children
 in school who are at least five years old before September 2 of the year in which admission is
 sought.
           (7) A local school board may establish and support school libraries.
           (8) A local school board may collect damages for the loss, injury, or destruction of
 school property.
           (9) A local school board may authorize guidance and counseling services for children
 and their parents before, during, or following enrollment of the children in schools.
           (10) (a) A local school board shall administer and implement federal educational
 programs in accordance with Title 53E, Chapter 3, Part 8, Implementing Federal or National
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        1st Sub. (Buff) H.B. 234                                                      01-28-22 9:13 AM
 Education Programs.
           (b) Federal funds are not considered funds within the school district budget under
 Chapter 7, Part 3, Budgets.
           (11) (a) A local school board may organize school safety patrols and adopt policies
 under which the patrols promote student safety.
           (b) A student appointed to a safety patrol shall be at least 10 years old and have written
 parental consent for the appointment.
           (c) Safety patrol members may not direct vehicular traffic or be stationed in a portion
 of a highway intended for vehicular traffic use.
           (d) Liability may not attach to a school district, its employees, officers, or agents or to a
 safety patrol member, a parent of a safety patrol member, or an authorized volunteer assisting
 the program by virtue of the organization, maintenance, or operation of a school safety patrol.
           (12) (a) A local school board may on its own behalf, or on behalf of an educational
 institution for which the local school board is the direct governing body, accept private grants,
 loans, gifts, endowments, devises, or bequests that are made for educational purposes.
           (b) These contributions are not subject to appropriation by the Legislature.
           (13) (a) A local school board may appoint and fix the compensation of a compliance
 officer to issue citations for violations of Subsection 76-10-105(2)(b).
           (b) A person may not be appointed to serve as a compliance officer without the
 person's consent.
           (c) A teacher or student may not be appointed as a compliance officer.
           (14) A local school board shall adopt bylaws and policies for the local school board's
 own procedures.
           (15) (a) A local school board shall make and enforce policies necessary for the control
 and management of the district schools.
           (b) Local school board policies shall be in writing, filed, and referenced for public
 access.
           (16) A local school board may hold school on legal holidays other than Sundays.
           (17) (a) A local school board shall establish for each school year a school traffic safety
 committee to implement this Subsection (17).
           (b) The committee shall be composed of one representative of:
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        01-28-22 9:13 AM                                                       1st Sub. (Buff) H.B. 234
           (i) the schools within the district;
           (ii) the Parent Teachers' Association of the schools within the district;
           (iii) the municipality or county;
           (iv) state or local law enforcement; and
           (v) state or local traffic safety engineering.
           (c) The committee shall:
           (i) receive suggestions from school community councils, parents, teachers, and others
 and recommend school traffic safety improvements, boundary changes to enhance safety, and
 school traffic safety program measures;
           (ii) review and submit annually to the Department of Transportation and affected
 municipalities and counties a child access routing plan for each elementary, middle, and junior
 high school within the district;
           (iii) consult the Utah Safety Council and the Division of Family Health Services and
 provide training to all school children in kindergarten through grade 6, within the district, on
 school crossing safety and use; and
           (iv) help ensure the district's compliance with rules made by the Department of
 Transportation under Section 41-6a-303.
           (d) The committee may establish subcommittees as needed to assist in accomplishing
 the committee's duties under Subsection (17)(c).
           (18) (a) A local school board shall adopt and implement a comprehensive emergency
 response plan to prevent and combat violence in the local school board's public schools, on
 school grounds, on its school vehicles, and in connection with school-related activities or
 events.
           (b) The plan shall:
           (i) include prevention, intervention, and response components;
           (ii) be consistent with the student conduct and discipline policies required for school
 districts under Chapter 11, Part 2, Miscellaneous Requirements;
           (iii) require professional learning for all district and school building staff on what their
 roles are in the emergency response plan;
           (iv) provide for coordination with local law enforcement and other public safety
 representatives in preventing, intervening, and responding to violence in the areas and activities
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        1st Sub. (Buff) H.B. 234                                                     01-28-22 9:13 AM
 referred to in Subsection (18)(a); and
         (v) include procedures to notify a student, to the extent practicable, who is off campus
 at the time of a school violence emergency because the student is:
         (A) participating in a school-related activity; or
         (B) excused from school for a period of time during the regular school day to
 participate in religious instruction at the request of the student's parent.
         (c) The state board, through the state superintendent, shall develop comprehensive
 emergency response plan models that local school boards may use, where appropriate, to
 comply with Subsection (18)(a).
         (d) A local school board shall, by July 1 of each year, certify to the state board that its
 plan has been practiced at the school level and presented to and reviewed by its teachers,
 administrators, students, and their parents and local law enforcement and public safety
 representatives.
         (19) (a) A local school board may adopt an emergency response plan for the treatment
 of sports-related injuries that occur during school sports practices and events.
         (b) The plan may be implemented by each secondary school in the district that has a
 sports program for students.
         (c) The plan may:
         (i) include emergency personnel, emergency communication, and emergency
 equipment components;
         (ii) require professional learning on the emergency response plan for school personnel
 who are involved in sports programs in the district's secondary schools; and
         (iii) provide for coordination with individuals and agency representatives who:
         (A) are not employees of the school district; and
         (B) would be involved in providing emergency services to students injured while
 participating in sports events.
         (d) The local school board, in collaboration with the schools referred to in Subsection
 (19)(b), may review the plan each year and make revisions when required to improve or
 enhance the plan.
         (e) The state board, through the state superintendent, shall provide local school boards
 with an emergency plan response model that local school boards may use to comply with the
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        01-28-22 9:13 AM                                                    1st Sub. (Buff) H.B. 234
 requirements of this Subsection (19).
        (20) A local school board shall do all other things necessary for the maintenance,
 prosperity, and success of the schools and the promotion of education.
        (21) (a) Before closing a school or changing the boundaries of a school, a local school
 board shall:
        (i) at least 120 days before approving the school closure or school boundary change,
 provide notice to the following that the local school board is considering the closure or
 boundary change:
        (A) parents of students enrolled in the school, using the same form of communication
 the local school board regularly uses to communicate with parents;
        (B) parents of students enrolled in other schools within the school district that may be
 affected by the closure or boundary change, using the same form of communication the local
 school board regularly uses to communicate with parents; and
        (C) the governing council and the mayor of the municipality in which the school is
 located;
        (ii) provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposed school closure or
 school boundary change during at least two public local school board meetings; and
        (iii) hold a public hearing as defined in Section 10-9a-103 and provide public notice of
 the public hearing as described in Subsection (21)(b).
        (b) The notice of a public hearing required under Subsection (21)(a)(iii) shall:
        (i) indicate the:
        (A) school or schools under consideration for closure or boundary change; and
        (B) the date, time, and location of the public hearing;
        (ii) at least 10 days before the public hearing, be:
        (A) published[: (I)] in a newspaper of general circulation in the area[;] and [(II)] on the
 Utah Public Notice Website created in Section 63A-16-601; and
        (B) posted in at least three public locations within the municipality in which the school
 is located on the school district's official website, and prominently at the school; and
        (iii) at least 30 days before the public hearing described in Subsection (21)(a)(iii), be
 provided as described in Subsections (21)(a)(i)(A), (B), and (C).
        (22) A local school board may implement a facility energy efficiency program
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        1st Sub. (Buff) H.B. 234                                                   01-28-22 9:13 AM
 established under Title 11, Chapter 44, Performance Efficiency Act.
        (23) A local school board may establish or partner with a certified youth court in
 accordance with Section 80-6-902 or establish or partner with a comparable restorative justice
 program, in coordination with schools in that district. A school may refer a student to a youth
 court or a comparable restorative justice program in accordance with Section 53G-8-211.
        (24) A local school board shall:
        (a) adopt curricula to be used within the school district; and
        (b) in accordance with Section 53G-10-103:
        [(a)] (i) make curriculum that the school district uses readily accessible and available
 for a parent to view;
        [(b)] (ii) annually notify a parent of a student enrolled in the school district of how to
 access the information described in Subsection (24)(a)(i); and
        [(c)] (iii) include on the school district's website information about how to access the
 information described in Subsection (24)(a).
        Section 2. Section 53G-5-404 is amended to read:
        53G-5-404. Requirements for charter schools.
        (1) A charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies,
 employment practices, and operations.
        (2) A charter school may not charge tuition or fees, except those fees normally charged
 by other public schools.
        (3) A charter school shall meet all applicable federal, state, and local health, safety, and
 civil rights requirements.
        (4) (a) A charter school shall:
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