Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 465 First Substitute (2023GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Welton, D.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/17/2023

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• requires local education agencies that provide school libraries to provide an online platform that allows a parent to view information regarding materials the parent's child borrows from the school library; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARY TRANSPARENCY AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Douglas R. Welton
Senate Sponsor: 
Keith Grover
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses transparency regarding materials accessible to students in public
school libraries.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ requires local education agencies that provide school libraries to provide an online
platform that allows a parent to view information regarding materials the parent's
child borrows from the school library; and
▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53G-4-402
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapters 84, 262, 324, and 345
53G-5-405
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 192
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
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
:
(a)
 may establish and support school libraries[
.
]
; and
(b) shall provide an online platform:
(i) through which a parent is able to view the title, author, and a description of any
material the parent's child borrows from the school library, including a history of borrowed
materials, either using an existing online platform that the LEA uses or through a separate
platform; and
(ii) (A) for a school district with 1,000 or more enrolled students, no later than August
1, 2024; and
(B) for a school district with fewer than 1,000 enrolled students, no later than August
1, 2026.
(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
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:
(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
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
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
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) make curriculum that the school district uses readily accessible and available for a
parent to view;
(b) annually notify a parent of a student enrolled in the school district of how to access
the information described in Subsection (24)(a); and
(c) include on the school district's website information about how to access the
information described in Subsection (24)(a).
Section 2. Section 
53G-5-405
 is amended to read:
53G-5-405.
Application of statutes and rules to charter schools.
(1) A charter school shall operate in accordance with its charter agreement and is
subject to this public education code and other state laws applicable to public schools, except
as otherwise provided in this chapter and other related provisions.
(2) (a) Except as provided in [
Subsection
] 
Subsections
 (2)(b) 
and (2)(c)
, state board
rules governing the following do not apply to a charter school:
(i) school libraries;
(ii) required school administrative and supervisory services; and
(iii) required expenditures for instructional supplies.
(b) A charter school shall comply with rules implementing statutes that prescribe how
state appropriations may be spent.
(c) If a charter school provides access to a school library, the charter school governing
board shall provide an online platform:
(i) through which a parent is able to view the title, author, and a description of any
material the parent's child borrows from the school library, including a history of borrowed
materials, either using an existing online platform that the charter school uses or through a
separate platform; and
(ii) (A) for a charter school with 1,000 or more enrolled students, no later than August
1, 2024; and
(B) for a charter school with fewer than 1,000 enrolled students, no later than August 1,
2026.
(3) The following provisions of this public education code, and rules adopted under
those provisions, do not apply to a charter school:
(a) Section 
53E-4-408
, requiring an independent evaluation of instructional materials;
(b) Section 
53G-4-409
, requiring the use of activity disclosure statements;
(c) Sections 
53G-7-304
 and 
53G-7-306
, pertaining to fiscal procedures of school
districts and local school boards;
(d) Section 
53G-7-606
, requiring notification of intent to dispose of textbooks;
(e) Section 
53G-7-1202
, requiring the establishment of a school community council;
and
(f) Section 
53G-10-404
, requiring annual presentations on adoption.
(4) For the purposes of Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, a charter
school is considered an educational procurement unit as defined in Section 
63G-6a-103
.
(5) Each charter school shall be subject to:
(a) Title 52, Chapter 4, Open and Public Meetings Act; and
(b) Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act.
(6) A charter school is exempt from Section 
51-2a-201.5
, requiring accounting reports
of certain nonprofit corporations. A charter school is subject to the requirements of Section
53G-5-404
.
(7) (a) The State Charter School Board shall, in concert with the charter schools, study
existing state law and administrative rules for the purpose of determining from which laws and
rules charter schools should be exempt.
(b) (i) The State Charter School Board shall present recommendations for exemption to
the state board for consideration.
(ii) The state board shall consider the recommendations of the State Charter School
Board and respond within 60 days.