Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

S.B. 148 (2018GS)

Sponsor

Sen. Hemmert, D.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/22/2018

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• enacts language related to local school board standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

This document includes Senate 3rd Reading Floor Amendments incorporated into the bill on Wed, Feb 21, 2018 at 12:16 PM by lpoole.
PUBLIC EDUCATION ENROLLMENT APPLICATION
AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Daniel Hemmert
House Sponsor:
 Adam Robertson
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions related to local school board rules governing acceptance or
rejection of an enrollment request.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ enacts language related to local school board standards for accepting or rejecting an
application for enrollment; and
▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53G-6-403
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 3
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
53G-6-403
 is amended to read:
53G-6-403.
Rules for acceptance and rejection of applications.
(1) (a) A local school board shall adopt rules governing acceptance and rejection of
applications required under Section 
53G-6-402
.
(b) The rules adopted under Subsection (1)(a) shall include policies and procedures to
assure that decisions regarding enrollment requests are administered fairly without prejudice to
any student or class of student, except as provided in Subsection (2).
(2) Standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment may include:
(a) for an elementary school, the capacity of the grade level;
(b) for a secondary school,
Ŝ→ [
maintenance of comprehensive programs and efficient
allocation of resources;
] 
the capacity of a comprehensive program;
 ←Ŝ
[
(b)
] 
(c)
 maintenance of heterogeneous student populations if necessary to avoid
violation of constitutional or statutory rights of students;
[
(c)
] 
(d)
 not offering, or having capacity in, an elementary or secondary special
education or other special program the student requires;
[
(d)
] 
(e)
 maintenance of reduced class sizes:
(i) in a Title I school that uses federal, state, and local money to reduce class sizes for
the purpose of improving student achievement; or
(ii) in a school that uses school trust money to reduce class size;
[
(e)
] 
(f)
 willingness of prospective students to comply with district policies; and
[
(f)
] 
(g)
 giving priority to intradistrict transfers over interdistrict transfers.
(3) (a) Standards for accepting or rejecting applications for enrollment may not
include:
(i) previous academic achievement;
(ii) athletic or other extracurricular ability;
(iii) the fact that the student requires special education services for which space is
available;
(iv) proficiency in the English language; or
(v) previous disciplinary proceedings, except as provided in Subsection (3)(b).
(b) A board may provide for the denial of applications from students who:
(i) have committed serious infractions of the law or school rules, including rules of the
district in which enrollment is sought; or
(ii) have been guilty of chronic misbehavior which would, if it were to continue after
the student was admitted:
(A) endanger persons or property;
(B) cause serious disruptions in the school; or
(C) place unreasonable burdens on school staff.
(c) A board may also provide for provisional enrollment of students with prior
behavior problems, establishing conditions under which enrollment of a nonresident student
would be permitted or continued.
(4) (a) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Utah High School
Activities Association, shall establish policies regarding nonresident student participation in
interscholastic competition.
(b) Nonresident students shall be eligible for extracurricular activities at a public
school consistent with eligibility standards as applied to students that reside within the school
attendance area, except as provided by policies established under Subsection (4)(a).
(5) For each school in the district, the local school board shall post on the school
district's website:
(a) the school's maximum capacity;
(b) the school's adjusted capacity;
(c) the school's projected enrollment used in the calculation of the open enrollment
threshold;
(d) actual enrollment on October 1, January 2, and April 1;
(e) the number of nonresident student enrollment requests;
(f) the number of nonresident student enrollment requests accepted; and
(g) the number of resident students transferring to another school.
Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel