Utah lawmakers passed a flurry of bills this year to change the state's public schools, from banning bathrooms to banning books.
Under a bill quickly signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox in January, transgender students would not be allowed to use public school bathrooms or locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity. This measure applies to all buildings owned and managed by the government.
The sweeping bill, which Cox signed into law on the same day, two weeks into the session, would require school districts as well as public colleges, universities and government agencies to eliminate diversity programs and positions. The measure would also prohibit K-12 public schools from using the term “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
In addition to this hastily enacted bill, approximately 70 other bills could impact Utah's K-12 students and teachers.
Here's how the important points change:
It could be easier to ban books across the state.
(Bethany Baker | Salt Lake Tribune) Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in front of dozens of banned books lined up on a table at Weller Book Works in Trolley Square for Banned Book Week in Salt Lake City. woman walking.
Banning books throughout the state would become significantly easier under HB29.
The bill, which the Legislature passed last month, would remove a book from all public schools in Utah if at least three school districts (or at least two school districts and five charter schools) determine that the book qualifies as “objectively confidential material.” I am allowed to remove one book. ”
Utah law defines “objectively confidential material” as material that is pornographic or otherwise obscene in nature and has no “literary, artistic, political, or scientific value to minors.” .
According to the bill, the Utah State Board of Education would have the opportunity to override the automatic statewide ban. To do so, he requires board members to meet within 60 days after the criteria is met to discuss restoring the books.
Without a public hearing, the ban will remain in effect. But if board leaders vote to override it, school districts and charter schools that originally chose to remove the book can still keep it off their shelves.
If signed by Cox, the bill would go into effect July 1 and apply retroactively to all “objectively confidential materials” removed from student access before that date.the current As of Wednesday afternoon, Cox had not signed the legislation, but education advocates across the state are urging him not to do so.
Together, they wrote an open letter on February 27 calling on Cox to veto it. The letter was signed by leaders of organizations including the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Utah chapter of PEN America. National library advocacy group EveryLibrary. Utah Library Association. and Utah Educational Library Media Association.
Students may see more guns at school
(Rick Bowmer | AP Photo) Timpanogos Academy members participate in training at the Utah County Sheriff's Office shooting range during educator training in Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah, June 29, 2019. Secretary.
Lawmakers passed two bills that could pave the way for more school employees to carry guns in schools. HB84 and HB119, both classified as school safety measures.
HB119 would create an “Educator Parent Program” that would give participating teachers near-total liability protection if they use guns on school property, a move gun safety advocates say is dangerous. He claimed that.
The bill would also provide participating teachers with free access to annual training that teaches educators how to protect classrooms from active threats and how to safely load, unload, store, and transport firearms in schools. become.
The second bill, HB84, would impose one of three types of obligations on local education agencies, such as school districts. Armed personnel on school campuses: school resource officers, armed school security personnel, or “school custodians.”
A school parent can be any school employee, excluding teachers and principals. They are required to participate in annual firearms skills training, train twice a year at the specific campus where they work, and participate in a “live exercise plan” to respond to active threats. be.
All panic buttons are modeled after “Alyssa's Law,” which has been passed in several states and was inspired by a campaign by Lori Alhadeff, the mother of 14-year-old student Alyssa Alhadeff, who was killed in the incident. It is necessary to install it in the classroom.of 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting incident.
Cox had not signed either bill into law as of Wednesday afternoon.
Students may be studying the Ten Commandments
Utah students will soon learn about the Ten Commandments and Magna Carta as historical documents in their U.S. history classes.
The bill, HB0269, is an amendment to an earlier draft entitled “The Ten Commandments in Public Schools,” which would require public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments.
The final version passed by Congress removed that requirement and instead added the Ten Commandments and Magna Carta to a “list of historical documents and principles” that schools could include for “thorough study.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Cox had not signed the bill.
More microschools may emerge
(Ian Lindsay) Students attend classes at Acton Academy St. George, a microschool in St. George, Utah.
Several bills this Congress aimed to expand school choice in Utah. This also includes SB13, which aims to give microschools (small schools that operate as a hybrid of homeschool and private school) the same zoning privileges as charter schools and private schools.
That means they can open in residential areas, converted downtown stores, shopping malls, etc. because they are considered “permitted uses” in all zoning zones in the county.
Lawmakers also doubled the spending allocation for the Utah Fitz-All Scholarship, the largest school voucher program in state history.
With $80 million in public funding now available, up to 10,000 students will receive $8,000 in vouchers that can be used toward educational expenses, including tuition and extracurricular activities at accredited private schools and microschools. I can do it.
As of Wednesday afternoon, they had not yet received the governor's signature.
Things that didn't pass, like banning Pride flags in classrooms.
(Trent Nelson | Salt Lake Tribune) Students in Jennifer Crystal's second grade class Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at Heber Valley Elementary School in Heber City.
Utah's class sizes are among the highest in the nation, according to a recent study by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.
HB512 could alleviate this problem by prioritizing K-3 enrollees over K-8 enrollees when allocating funds from the existing $188.2 million “class size reduction” program. There is a possibility.
Democratic Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, the bill's sponsor, said last month that this is because K-12 is a critical time for literacy development. She argued that small class sizes at that age allow younger students to receive the individual attention they need during their formative years. This bill was ultimately not passed.
Utah's state legislature has also attempted three times to effectively ban the display of pride flags in public schools.
The first attempt was HB303, which would prohibit teachers from displaying political or religious symbols, such as pride flags, in classrooms.
The bill would also prohibit teachers from “supporting or disparaging” certain “political” viewpoints, including LGBTQ-related issues such as “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.” .
When that failed, Senate Republicans twice tried to circumvent the standard legislative process in the final days of the session by calling for an effective ban on displaying pride flags in school classrooms. The attempt failed.
