H.B. 462 School Bus Internet Access: transcript

Thank you. And I'll be really fast just 'cause I know we always have a lot going on. So this, um, problem came to me because rural school kids, um, who are involved in a lot of activities and due to the size of their schools, usually are involved in a lot of activities. They're, uh, leaving school and going and competing in, you know, sports and different things. And, um, many times they're driving an hour or two hours. Some people drive three hours to go compete. And, um, when they get back home, it's, you know, 10:00 PM at night. And as, as a school kid, when I played sports, I could do my homework on the bus with a pen and a paper and get it done, or a pencil and a paper I should say. And our kids don't have that same luxury because everything is online and submitted through Chromebooks. And so, um, this is looking to put up a grant program for rural schools that each high school would be able to get funded the equipment, um, to give them internet connectivity and, um, it would pay for the full for the equipment. And then also that year's expenses. And the only schools that would be eligible to do that were ones that were willing to take on the ongoing costs of staying connected. And I, I will say that there was a federal gover, uh, a federal program that was doing this. And some of our schools participated in that. Some of them didn't because they were worried about, um, the cell towers and, and not having connectivity. But with starlink now, um, that's opening up new areas and working with UETN, making sure that the devices that they have for the Chromebooks would still have the same filtering. Going through these internet providers and having UETN kind of manage that program is, was a big thing. Also, making sure that those passwords couldn't be shared. So we're not worried about people with, you know, kids with their phones connect, connecting and then looking at inappropriate things that somehow we'd be responsible for it. It would be really built into the Chromebooks or their iPads, whichever one that you're using in their school. Um, and so I, I think that this will really help our kids. We, we look so much at their, their sleep, especially at that age and how important it is. And if this is one thing we can do to help them, then I'm, I'm happy to do it. I talked with the, the Utah Rural Schools Association and asked, you know, like, is this, is this a need that you see? And, and they were excited about it. I, I think, um, JLC had looked at it and they weren't sure about the filtering aspect of it, but since I've talked to them about how that was actually gonna work. Oh, good. She's here. Um, Lexi, I was gonna say that you were gonna come and talk about this in public comment, but, um, anyway, um, they had originally said that they were maybe, um, not, um, in favor, but I, I think that that has changed as they've understood the bill more. So this is a total voluntary program. Districts can participate if they want. Um, I will also say that it was recommended to be funded in appropriations as well. And so, um, that's, that's the bill.

Yeah, thanks. I have a couple of questions. So you mentioned, so students won't be able to get on their individual devices and connect to the internet. They can only use their school issued devices. So with the internet that would be provided in these school buses, school kids would not have the ability to connect outside devices from it. It would only be their own school issued laptops that would be able to connect to this. So we don't have to worry about, um, things being watched in the bus or connected to that wouldn't be appropriate now if they happen to be able to connect on their own. I mean, that's just like what it is now. There's nothing that we can really do about that. But this is specifically talking about what, as a state we would be, um, giving the school districts a tool and these kids to be able to work on their homework and get it done on days when they've got a lot.

Okay. Uh, thank you. And another question, if I may. Um, so it says that this would just be used for extended trips. So is there an ability to turn this internet service on and off when those school bus school buses that are retrofitted, um, are being used for short trips?

Or I, how does that work? I think the reason that that is shown is that these would be their school buses that they're using after school. And these people or these students are being driven a long way. So all of their trips are extended. Um, I would have no problem with them using those school buses with the connectivity. Um, I know on the reservation, uh, down south, it takes those kids two plus hours to get home from school every day. And if this was something that they wanted to use, if they didn't have a school activity, then I like more power to 'em. I'm all about kids being able to get their homework done and not having to stay up till midnight to do it.

Um, do you know what the cost would be to retrofit a single school bus? Yeah,

So it says on the fiscal note, um, let's see, where's my, it says on there, I think it was, it was like maybe $6,500, like up to $6,500, um, a, a bus.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. I I I'm not decided on this one yet. I'm struggling a little bit because I think that not just rural, rural students travel long distances. I think many students travel long distances for athletic events or competitions, whatever it may be. So I'm wondering why it is that maybe I'm just thinking if this is a need of a district, maybe it should be the district paying for the retrofitting, um, rather than the state. I Can appreci appreciate that.

I would, I would say the reason why this is different, um, think about if you were in a big school district, everyone you would be playing against would be maybe less than a half an hour away. And so that's very rare that on maybe a daily basis you were traveling an hour and a half to two hours away to go to another school that's in your region because you are so far away. So I think that rural and urban kids are very, very different and, and the needs of them are very different. And so, um, since that federal program ended, I, I was, I think that a lot of our state schools that are rural could really use the help and, and have said the same thing.

Thank you Mr. Chair. Uh, this is an interesting topic and, and kudos to kids that are actually doing homework. I, that's like some serious flirt time. I mean, that's what I would've been doing instead of doing homework, but, hey, anyway, question I have is on a serious note, uh, it did say in page two, by the way, the cost is between 42 30 and 4,700 at on the bike. Oh, thank You. Okay. 4,500 then. Yeah. Okay. So help me understand, just to make sure I'm clear. So there's the cost of retrofitting the bus, but then there's an ongoing cost to provide service who, who pays for which?

So the grant program that they could elect into would, would be paying for that retrofit and then also the first year of those expenses. And then those ongoing connectivity charges, which are very minimal. The, the rural schools have told me, um, and they would be willing to pick up would be their ongoing cost. So we're just doing one time fund to let them have this connectivity. And I, I will say the reason why we're doing two school buses and, you know, depending on the funding, it, it could be different. But that's so a, there could be a girls' sports bus and a boys' sports bus so that it is, um, fair and we're not just having one that they're trying to decide between every single day because these kids have, um, events every day that they're going to and spending hours and hours just driving. So, um, I, as a parent of a, of a rural school kid, I've, I've heard many, many times how they are not allowed to do their homework. Like, I'll, I'll just give an example. I have one of my kids is on a, a sports team and their coach won't allow them to do any like reading or any work because they're supposed to be watching their teammates play when they're not up. And so, you know, if you're spending four hours somewhere playing tennis or more, and then you have an hour and a half on either end, like these kids don't have time to get their homework done and, and if they're taking concurrent enrollment classes or they're taking AP classes and, and have whole, have a full schedule that's hours and hours of homework at night that then they have to go home to. So while there may be kids who don't have as packed of schedules, there are plenty, especially with our push for CE and CTE that are, are higher classes that they need to get their homework done every night.

Thank you. And just one more question if I Yeah, please Go ahead. So, so I think it's, the federal program was like called the Eide program or something like that. Um, so have there have any of the districts that have, that have had this service that have said, you know what, if we have to pay for it, we're probably not going to to pay for that ongoing. Has there been any conversation about those?

No, I, I asked all of them when I Uintah the Utah Rural Schools Association and said, you know, I, I'm thinking about this, what do you think? Do you think it is worth it? Would you be willing to take on that cost? And they said yes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My questions really, uh, gear around the, the actual direct language in the bill. So starting at line 34, um, extended trip means a school bus trip to a school sponsored of ed, including an athletic competition, academic competition or club activity that requires a student in grades seven through 12 to travel more than 60 minutes one way. And then if you go down to line 39, which talks about the appropriations, we'll grant the money for school buses used for extended trips. So I guess what I'm trying to find out here is a couple of things. One, this seems to indicate that the retrofit is designated to specific buses not. So whether that bus is used exclusively for extended trips, whether it's used some of the times for extended trips, whether it's used once for an extended trip, would that qualify for a bus retrofit under this Language? Maybe I need to look at that language a little closer. As far as I know when we were talking with the drafting attorneys, we were talking about the type of school that would qualify for this, and those are the ones that have to take these extended trips. So maybe I need to clean that up a little bit to make sure that, you know, there's just two school buses and the school can decide, you know, when they're using them every day and, and who's getting that. But, um, like I said, so if if there's no school activity that day, maybe I, I don't think that this is a, this isn't a, just a separate bus that's just gonna sit there. It's one of the buses that they already have and is in use and would be used every day. Thank you for that clarification. And I guess also, Mr. Chair, I do have a couple of questions that that's okay to keep going.

I'm gonna try to work through this quickly. All right. Very good. Thank you. Um, so since this has designated those, uh, travel time based on minutes rather than distance, I would argue that, um, coming from a urban district myself and having my kids been in events like these before, that sometimes it's not about distance, it's about the time. And many of my kids spent plenty of time in a bus, uh, traveling short distances where they were trapped in a school bus. And I guess going back to Representative Defay question, why is this just limited then to rural schools when urban kids will be facing these same exact issues? Um, is this just a funding, uh, issue that the, that the rural schools are hoping the state will provide that money for? Is there an actual need here for the kids? Are we, are they not able to, to finish their homework right now, um, in the rural schools versus the urban schools? And I guess I'm, I'm just trying to understand that point that Representative Devey brought up, but also in regards to this being a time-based constriction as far as when it qualifies rather than a distance based and why that's only eligible to rural schools under that. So I think going back to, um, the original point is when you're in a rural school, you most likely play on the tennis team, play on the soccer team, play on the basketball team, are involved in so many things. And in a bigger school and an urban area, probably not as much. And so these kids are gone a lot because they, you know, just try to feel the team. And so that's part of it, is that the amount of time that they're gone every single day, um, and reliably always, you know, over that time, yes. Can an urban kid get stuck in in traffic? Yes. But is that reliably every single day, an hour and a half or two hours or three hours? I don't think that they're gonna be stuck on a bus one way for three hours, but there are schools, To be fair, the bill says one hour. Okay. But that, that's okay. That's fine. I'm just saying these, these kids are on buses reliably every single day and having problems being able to, to get their homework done. And so, yeah, I mean, does it mean that they're not staying up until two in the morning to do their homework if they're a good student? They probably are, but it's that, I don't think that that's healthy for them. So if there's something that we can do about this, and I think there's so many different places in our code where we have realized that rural kids are different than urban kids. You know, if someone wants to run an RFA for urban kids and school districts and, and, and make that argument, that's fine. But like, in my own experience and the, and the constituents that I represent are, um, are rural and that's the problem that I, I hear. And so it's something that I'm trying to address.

Thank you, Lexi. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Oops, I'm sorry. Microphone is on. It's on now. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I have talked to Representative Ox Sierra on this, and the question about the, the buses, I had a conversation with UEN and they've been working with the tech directors and the, the access, the internet access on the bus will only be for, um, students that have district issued devices. So depending on, on what happens with, with different bills, I, that will be, I think for seventh and eighth grade, that will be a conversation that parents and, and students will have. I don't believe there will be a way for a student if they have their own computer that's not dis a district device to, to get on, um, the access on, on the bus. My understanding is these are buses that are used for routes during the day too. And I do believe there is a way to switch off that access, but I, we can double check on that because districts will need to run, if it's an activity bus, it will be doing at least one route in the morning and if not two. And then going on the long trips, some of our districts were able to put, um, internet access and the equipment on their buses. That started with, um, some of the funding that came into the state with COVID. I remember that some of the urban districts did that, and then they would drive the buses around to different parts of districts so students would have internet access. And I do believe that there are, there are districts throughout the state that still have some of that, that internet access, um, on their buses. But I think if, if it's a concern on how to keep it going, I mean, it's a grant and maybe that could be one of the grant questions is how do you think you can, can sustain it? But I do feel that students will be safe with, with district devices and what's gonna be put on the buses. So thank you.

Uh, thank you Chair. My name is Matthew Ke, I'm the superintendent of Grand County School District. Um, when I, when I think of this application, it's a great opportunity for students in our district who I have seen, you know, doing homework, uh, varsity players doing homework on the bleachers out in away game at Beaver. When we're talking long distances, I'm thinking, you know, Moab to Kanab, Moab to Enterprise Monticello to Randolph Monticello to St. George. These are, these are trips that kids are making multiple times a year. And again, to the representative's point, a lot of these students are involved in multiple sports. Um, and I, I think it's a, a great opportunity, especially if we can, um, set up the filters such as, uh, Lexi talked about. And, uh, just appreciate the bill and again, the opportunity, uh, to have a public comment. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there a sub or anything? I don't think there is. I don't think so. There's not, this is a one and done Bill. Bill by itself. Wow. What a rare thing this time of the session too. Okay. I move that we favorably recommend HB 4 62 school bus internet access.

I think it just makes sense actually, that we allow the children to do the homework when they're not using paper and pen anymore. We've got to adapt, I guess.

Uh, yeah, thank you. I, I do wanna see some clarification on the definition of buses and how this actually applies to the grants, but, um, otherwise, obviously we did prioritize this funding as well, and, uh, would support a motion. Thanks.

Yeah, thank you. I'm, I'm happy to work with that so that it makes sense the way you, you think it should be. And so I would just appreciate a favorable vote. Thank you. I, I think what anything we can do to help these rural kids.

Yeah, this is a, a really simple bill and one that came about, um, because of the lifestyle in rural Utah, our kids usually are in schools that don't have very many students. And so Fielding teams, our kids get to do almost every sport that they want, um, and, and different activities. But when they're involved in so many extracurriculars, they are on buses for hours, some, um, many times getting over to their, their games, to their, um, other competitors in their, in their region. And so when I was a kid and I was playing as a student athlete, I would do my homework on the bus, uh, when I had it with a paper and pencil, and I could turn it in the next day. But all of our schoolwork now is put through, you know, our, our Chromebooks and, and put online. And, um, my kids especially, they'll come home at 10:00 PM at night and they won't have been able to do their homework and they're just starting it then. And so, um, just looking at a way to help our kids be more healthy and successful in their schooling. I looked into, um, what UATN had been doing with, um, different schools and some buses had been looked at to get some routers with some federal funding. And there were some issues as far as, um, reception went, but now with some different, um, abilities to get connectivity, this is opening up, um, the idea that we can do this again. And so the bill would fund two buses per school for high school. And so, um, you know, you'd have boys and girls and it would allow them to be productive during their school rides if they were taking classes that had a lot going on. And the, um, filtering is the exact same filtering that just is on their Chromebooks, that goes with any network it goes to. So there's no extra filtering that has to come through that UETN said. And then also, um, it would prevent them from connecting with their own personal devices as well, so we wouldn't have to worry about, uh, inappropriate things being accessed on school connections. Um, but this would just give our, our kids, uh, a chance to stay caught up on everything they're, they're doing. And so with that, I'll open myself to questions.

Well, this isn't a question, but it's a statement basically that, uh, you know, a lot of the ki uh, kids that I represent down in San Juan County travel a long ways to go to sporting events. And sometimes they'll be on the bus for four or five hours and, and trying to keep up on their homework and stuff for their, being on athletic teams and stuff like that is a real burden on 'em. And I think with the, with SpaceX's, uh, starlink that's gonna be coming out here real shortly, that will be, it's already out. And I have a grandson that has it on his pickup truck, and he has it all the time. I mean, it's just like he can go up in the mountains and he has communications. And so I think that it's a matter of time that it's not gonna be that expensive to do this. And I think that it's good to find out now the problems that we might have, like you said, being on their phones all the time and stuff, instead of doing their homework. Uh, we'll have to monitor that. But I think this is a good, uh, step forward to be able to help these, uh, kids in their, uh, travels and stuff. And it's not, not just athletics, but with the band and speech and other, I mean, they travel everywhere to do everything. And so, you know, I think it's a good opportunity and I appreciate the, to be the, uh, uh, Senate sponsor on this bill. Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you. I also noticed this has a fiscal note that hasn't been funded.

Yes, that's true. And we'll find out tomorrow. I know I have quite a few colleagues that are prioritizing this, and I'm, I'm grateful for that.

Okay, thank you. I, I actually like this idea. I, I think it's a good idea and, uh, hopefully you'll get some funding for it.

Yes. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Chairman, I would make a motion that we pass out house bill 4 62 with a favorable recommendation.

Thank you. I, I feel like, um, rightly so, we're asking a lot of our kids as in their education, their learning, and especially with our push for concurrent enrollment and, um, other, other stuff like that, that this is a tool to help them manage those workloads in areas where they have struggles. So I appreciate your favorable recommendation.

I think that, you know, right now they can, with their cell phones and stuff, they pretty much have service all the time, so they're on north darn things all the time anyways. But this way it would kind of, uh, like I said, to be able to do it with their school, uh, uh, books and stuff like that so that they'll actually do their homework and maybe can monitor more, more that way and make sure they're getting their, their schooling done. So with that, I would ask that we pass it out favorably.

House Bill 4 62 school bus, internet access by representative er. This bill was assert in education with the vote of 11 0 4

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, may I move, amend, or motion to amend and move house amendment one in my name?

There was, um, this is just clarifying some questions that were in committee as far as extended trip. And just clarifying is just rural school districts because they all have extended trips.

I'll waive motion has been waived on the motion to adopt amendment number one on, uh, HB 4 62 under representative ER's name.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This bill came about, um, because of the unique issues that rural kids face when they are in high school. Many of them, because of the sizes of their schools, are involved in lots of activities and sports, um, just because they have fewer numbers to field all their teams. And, um, the people that they play, not only just in their regions, um, but across the state are many hours away. And colleagues, if you remember when we were little, if we were on a bus, we could do our homework with a page per and a pencil. But nowadays all homework is submitted online. And so if these kids are going an hour and a half, two hours, three hours away, many times they're not getting home until 10:00 PM at night. And then that's when they have to start their homework. And so being able to have buses that can connect with internet access would be so helpful for their health and their grades without having to stay up late, especially at this age. There's so many studies we hear about, especially in education committee about, um, high schoolers needing a lot of sleep. So, um, there's a question about, um, filtering in there. And the only thing that, um, has to happen and already does is that when kids get their Chromebooks, they have filtering already on the Chromebooks. And so this isn't anything that the school districts would be having to be in charge of, or UETN would have to be in charge of when it connects to the school buses, their Chromebooks would automatically do that and then also would restrict any password sharing so that, uh, no students' devices outside of their school given ones would be able to connect to that internet access. So with that, I'll open myself to questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This bill will give so much help with our rural school kids while they're away and being able to get their homework done and focus on a lot of their classes and, and, uh, homework that they wouldn't be able to do until they got home late at night. So let's support our kids. Thanks. Bye.

Uh, thank you Mr. President. This bill Grants, uh, is a grant program for rural school districts to install and operate internet connectivity on their systems, on their school buses. To be eligible, you have to be of a fourth, fifth, or sixth class county and less than fewer than 3000 students to enroll in this program. And with that, I'm open to questions. Thank you for the presentations.