Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 489 (2023GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Moss, J.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/17/2023

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• amends provisions regarding a paid professional hours plan that educators submit;
• clarifies the availability of paid professional hours to educators that begin employment during the school year on a prorated basis; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

EDUCATOR PAID PROFESSIONAL HOURS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Jefferson Moss
Senate Sponsor: 
 Ann Millner
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions regarding additional paid professional hours that may be
available to educators.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ amends provisions regarding a paid professional hours plan that educators submit;
▸ clarifies the availability of paid professional hours to educators that begin
employment during the school year on a prorated basis; and
▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53F-7-203
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapter 386
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
53F-7-203
 is amended to read:
53F-7-203.
Paid professional hours for educators.
(1) Subject to legislative appropriations, the state board shall provide funding to each
LEA to provide additional paid professional hours to the following educators in accordance
with this section:
(a) general education and special education teachers;
(b) counselors;
(c) school administration;
(d) school specialists;
(e) student support;
(f) school psychologists;
(g) speech language pathologists; and
(h) audiologists.
(2) The state board shall distribute funds appropriated to the state board under
Subsection 
53F-9-204
(6) to each LEA in proportion to the number of educators described in
Subsection (1) within the LEA.
(3) An LEA shall use funding under this section to provide paid professional hours
that:
(a) provide educators with the knowledge and skills necessary to enable students to
succeed in a well-rounded education and to meet the challenging state academic standards; and
(b) may include activities that:
(i) improve and increase an educator's:
(A) knowledge of the academic subjects the educator teaches;
(B) time to plan and prepare daily lessons based on student needs;
(C) understanding of how students learn; and
(D) ability to analyze student work and achievement from multiple sources, including
how to adjust instructional strategies, assessments, and materials based on the analysis;
(ii) are an integral part of broad school-wide and LEA-wide educational improvement
plans;
(iii) allow personalized plans for each educator to address the educator's specific needs
identified in observation or other feedback;
(iv) advance educator understanding of:
(A) effective and evidence-based instructional strategies; and
(B) strategies for improving student academic achievement or substantially increasing
the knowledge and teaching skills of educators;
(v) are aligned with, and directly related to, academic goals of the school or LEA; and
(vi) include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct
classroom practice.
(4) 
(a)
 An educator shall:
[
(a)
] 
(i) on or
 before the [
first
] 
fifth
 day of instruction in a given school year, create a
plan, in consultation with the educator's principal, on how the educator plans to use paid
professional hours provided under this section during the school year; and
[
(b)
] 
(ii)
 before the end of a given school year, provide a written statement to the
educator's principal of how the educator used paid professional hours provided under this
section during the school year.
(b) (i) Subsection (4)(a)(i) does not limit an educator who begins employment after the
fifth day of instruction in a given year from receiving paid professional hours under this
section.
(ii) An LEA may prorate the paid professional hours of an educator who begins
employment after the fifth day of instruction in a given year according to the portion of the
school year for which the LEA employs the educator.