K-12 schools

The bill sets the per-student funding amount (weighted pupil unit) at $4,870 for fiscal year 2027, a 4.2% increase, and appropriates about $253 million from a state education stabilization account for one-time uses such as educator time, enrollment growth, grants, and supplies.

This bill sets state agency fees and internal service fund rates for the coming year, many of which are unchanged and must be reauthorized each year.

The bill lowers several minor traffic offenses to infractions, including speeding 21 to 29 miles per hour in school zones and careless driving.

This bill directs the State Board of Education to create a five-year pilot program for elementary schools in rural counties to promote physical activity and healthy eating.

H.B. 44 would let some school staff who are not full-time police officers be designated as special function officers to respond to emergencies and act until law enforcement arrives, with added training.

The bill requires school districts to cancel contracts with education technology vendors that share student information with third parties if the problem is not fixed within 30 days.

The bill requires the state to create a plan for educating American Indian and Alaska Native students in districts where at least 29% of students are Native, with reporting to the legislature.

The bill lets cities and counties adopt local zoning and land-use rules for large micro-education entities, including ones with up to 100 students, in residential areas.

The bill would limit the State Board of Education's rulemaking power so it may make rules only when a statute requires them or when they are needed to carry out a statute's requirements.

Under this bill, school districts would have to notify parents at least 30 days before moving a student in a special education class, such as a contained classroom, to a different school.

H.B. 145 would add outside activities such as mountain biking, shooting sports, 4-H, and civic or STEM programs to the list of reasons a student can have an excused absence from school.

H.B. 146 makes the Master Teacher program permanent, ending its pilot status.

H.B. 148 would create a School Meals Debt Relief Fund managed by the State Board of Education and add an optional donation line on individual and corporate tax returns that sends money to that fund.

H.B. 163 would extend the existing Grow Your Own Educator scholarship program to cover special education licenses, so scholarship funds can be used by paraprofessionals and others seeking those licenses.

This bill would let ROTC cadets who are from other states pay in-state tuition at Utah public colleges and universities.

This bill would stop courts from letting people fined for school-zone speeding work off the fine by standing with a school crossing guard.

HB 188 would set clearer rules for school searches, including who may conduct them, and require schools to refer all juvenile drug offenses to law enforcement.

The bill would create a five-member independent ethics commission for the State Board of Education, with a code of conduct for board members, a confidential complaint process, and investigations by the commission instead of board members.

The bill would let local governments create 'stay out of drug areas' where law enforcement can keep repeat offenders out of targeted public spaces with open drug markets.

The bill would replace the existing seventh- and eighth-grade digital skills class with a course on online safety, social media, AI, and emerging technology.

This bill would allow local governments and public colleges to require oral fluid samples for drug testing, alongside urine, blood, breath, and hair.

H.B. 293 would add one summer week when students in Utah public high school athletics must take a break from practice and competition, and that week could apply to a single sport.

H.B. 299 defines the terms arrest, charge, and adjudication in the state school code on responding to sexual offenses.

H.B. 300 would change the period school districts have to meet a property tax rate requirement tied to state funding, known as a hold-harmless period, from one year to two years, with the current year counted.

H.B. 312 would have the state superintendent identify and develop free, high-quality open educational resources aligned to state standards for schools to use.

The bill would extend paid maternity leave for state employees from six to 12 weeks and add paid adoptive and foster leave for children six and under.

H.B. 351 would require schools to contact a family within 30 days after a child fails a vision screening, such as by email or phone, to check whether the family received the notice and needs help.

H.B. 358 would change the school-year measure for a high school credit from 180 school days to a minimum of 83 seat-time hours per credit.

This bill creates a one-time pilot program that lets Utah's eight universities compete for state-matched grants for research in economic development areas approved by a legislative committee.

H.B. 374 moves licensing for audiologists and speech-language pathologists out of the State Board of Education and into the state's licensing division, and phases out the separate licensing board.

The bill would have the University of Utah College of Education, working with the State Board of Education, develop a free dyslexia screener that the state owns and makes available to all school districts and charter schools.

H.B. 426 would require each school district or charter school that runs learner validated online programs to adopt a policy covering pacing of learning objectives, students doing their own work, and interaction with a licensed teacher of record employed by the district or charter school.

This bill revises the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind by clarifying its mission and role, changing how it is governed, addressing its facilities, and setting reporting requirements.

The bill would require a public entity such as a city, county, school district, or special district to post a sign and give public meeting notice before selling, leasing, or joint-venturing a parcel of public property valued at $500,000 or more.

H.B. 547 would address transnational repression, which is pressure or harm directed at people by a foreign government, with a focus on students at Utah higher education institutions.

This resolution expresses the Legislature's support for healthy activities in Utah schools, including encouraging at least 60 minutes of daily activity, and signals a state priority on fitness and nutrition to the federal government.

This resolution would declare the first week of July 2026 Independence Week and support Utah's America 250 Commission and local events marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

This concurrent resolution urges the State Board of Education and local school districts to create and offer technical education courses that prepare students for careers in nuclear, mining, and fiber optics.

This joint resolution would create a rotating group of school business administrators from local education agencies.

S.B. 2 would cut public education budget lines by about 0.85%, roughly $49.9 million total, mostly from unused balances.

This bill keeps the School and Institutional Trust Lands advocacy office instead of eliminating it, and makes conforming changes to the law governing that office based on a 2024 state audit.

The bill would have the State Board of Education set up a process for school districts to share information about students who made credible, serious threats, such as threats of violence or bringing a weapon to school.

This bill would remove the requirement that a school hire a licensed educator for a long-term substitute position when one applies.

This bill changes the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship Program, which uses income tax credits to fund scholarships for students with disabilities.

SB 58 sets uniform statewide definitions and counting rules for student attendance and chronic absenteeism so schools report consistent data to the State Board of Education.

S.B. 62 would change how school districts and charter schools receive state funding, basing it on current October 1 enrollment instead of last year's average enrollment.

S.B. 69 would set a statewide default that students may not use cell phones during school hours, from the opening bell to the closing bell.

S.B. 77 would update Utah's dual language immersion rules by setting qualified-teacher requirements for upper-level concurrent enrollment courses taught in high schools, letting universities partner with districts to find teachers in six languages, and adding language proficiency tests for grades 10 through 12.

The bill lets licensed professionals, such as therapists and psychologists, administer dyslexia assessments within their scope of practice.

S.B. 88 would require Utah school districts to give parents a monitoring system showing the websites their children visit on school devices and how much screen time they use.

S.B. 131 would let charter schools, if they choose, extend their lottery enrollment preference from a two-mile radius to the boundaries of a political subdivision such as a school district, but only when they are at capacity.

The bill would have the State Board of Education collect student information from local school districts and charter schools centrally and share it with the Utah System of Higher Education, instead of higher education negotiating separately with each one.

S.B. 164 would move oversight of public school construction, including plan reviews and inspections, from the State Board of Education to the state's Division of Facilities Construction and Management.

S.B. 165 would create a program that funds a backbone organization to coordinate existing state education, family, workforce, health, and housing programs in communities.

The bill would require school incidents to be included in student records shared between schools, and cut the deadline for sending a student's record to a new school after a request from 30 days to 5.

S.B. 210 removes local health department search and seizure authority that courts found unconstitutional, and moves enforcement duties to the Department of Public Safety.

The bill would require state agencies, counties, cities, and school boards to consider how a proposed rule, ordinance, or policy would affect the stability and formation of families in Utah before adopting it.

The bill would require Utah public schools and public charter schools to create a plan for responding to cardiac emergencies on school grounds, including how to use automated external defibrillators.

The bill would require the state to create a digital privacy agreement that software vendors must follow, banning student-directed advertising and limiting data use.

The bill would let schools teach about religion's role in history and the Constitution, including religious liberty, within American government and citizenship courses.

S.B. 295 would require Utah public colleges to hold public policy events each year that present competing viewpoints, some as structured debates, and to publish a public calendar of them.

The bill would treat a student's transcripts, course history, and other education records as the student's own, so schools, universities, or vendors would need the student's informed consent before accessing or sharing them.

The bill requires the Safe UT app to be available in multiple languages, including Spanish, using a HIPAA-compliant automated translation software application rather than only bilingual staff.

The bill would automatically bar an educator from working or volunteering in public schools during a license suspension or revocation for serious misconduct such as harm to students, sexual misconduct, or abuse.

The bill lets newly elected school boards, such as those formed after a school district split, choose a one- or three-year initial term for their president and vice president.

This resolution would urge the state's public and private schools to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with age-appropriate educational activities, discussions, and remembrances.

This bill would create a state grant program for rural high schools to equip school buses with internet access for students on long trips.

This bill sets a formula for how school security money would be divided among school districts, charter schools, and law enforcement agencies, but only if the Legislature later provides ongoing funding.

H.B. 106 would direct the State Board of Education to gather and analyze data on chronic school absenteeism and then recommend actions to address it.

This bill would make school speech-language pathologists and speech-language technicians eligible again for the $500 classroom supply funding that was taken away from them about two years ago.

This bill would clarify that a person carrying a firearm on daycare or K-12 school premises must carry it concealed.

The bill would require local school districts to review and choose instructional materials in advance under a local selection policy.

The bill would set standards for student expression in school-sponsored media and limit certain student expression in those outlets.

The bill creates a voluntary, limited pilot that lets a set number of school districts use a national norm-referenced test in place of the state's required summative test.

This bill would let charter schools join cities in having first right of refusal to buy school buildings a district closes, with the district able to decide between bidders at fair market value.

H.B. 298 would ask the state school board to gather school building designs into a library that school districts may use as a starting point, though districts would not be required to use it.

H.B. 310 would extend the deadline for schools to develop a student reintegration plan from five days to seven days, giving more time especially during summer.

H.B. 315 would add a free human development video of at least three minutes on fetal development to eighth and tenth grade health classes, within existing curriculum.

H.B. 317 would add a formal definition of the term "social health" to Utah's public education standards.

School districts would have to try a general obligation bond first before using a lease revenue bond for construction.

This bill would create a temporary legislative commission to study how Utah supports educators, including communication, professional development, and recognition and accountability.

H.B. 347 would require local education agencies to notify residents within 200 feet before installing artificial turf of at least 5,000 square feet, by mail or in person 30 days ahead, and to name a point of contact.

This bill would bar schools from serving breakfast and lunch containing certain food additives, such as synthetic dyes, and would extend that requirement to rural district and charter schools.

H.B. 364 would require each school district or regional education service agency to staff a full-time certified teacher librarian at the district level, creating about 19 positions.

The bill would put on hold a plan to replace the State Board of Education's Aspire data system with a vendor system.

This bill would let a teacher or state employee who is elected to the Legislature choose either to stay on their current employer salary, retirement, and benefits or to move to legislative pay and benefits, but not both.

The bill would require each school's community council to meet once a year to review the school's lunch policy against the state board's model policy, which calls for at least 20 minutes to eat, and discuss ways to give students more time.

The bill creates a new special education add-on funding unit for students who spend 180 or more minutes a day in self-contained classrooms, raising their funding from two to three units.

H.B. 464 would let parents teach their children to drive as an option on the learner permit application, rather than having to list a school or third party.

The bill would cap annual property tax revenue increases by taxing entities such as counties and school districts at 5% unless voters approve a larger increase.

This bill would clarify the state school board's curriculum requirements from last year's HB 381, serving as a backup in case funding problems affect that bill.

H.B. 521 would move about $350 million from the public education economic stabilization account into a permanent public education trust or endowment.

The bill removes the state requirement that school boards hire a business administrator under a two-year contract, leaving the contract length or an at-will arrangement to each board.

This bill would require school districts to send their open enrollment data and the name of a district contact person to the State Board of Education, rather than only posting the data on their own websites.

S.B. 17 would let higher education institutions join the state's credit card processing contract, which currently covers other government entities.

The bill changes Utah's K-12 education rules on citizenship education, and its sponsor says it would have schools teach practical topics such as safety, legal responsibilities, and financial wellbeing.

S.B. 65 would have county property tax collected for the minimum basic school levy be deposited first into a state fund rather than going directly to school districts.

This bill would add registered nurses to the list of school employees who are eligible for the educator salary adjustment.

This bill would let teachers who teach tested subjects in school districts or charter schools that did not join the Excels pilot program apply to nominate themselves for Excels bonuses.

S.B. 104 would gather several school medication rules, including those for epinephrine, naloxone, glucagon, and albuterol, into one section of state code.

The bill would require potty training before entering public school, not just kindergarten, and have the State Board create free digital K-8 core-subject curriculum aligned with Utah standards.

S.B. 169 would require local school districts and charter schools to let students take part in graduation activities, including ceremonies and honor events, even if they took part of their program online.

The bill would make kindergarten through sixth grade students from families earning 185% to 200% of the federal poverty level eligible for free school meals.

The bill would create an optional framework that lets school districts, including high-growth districts, set up voluntary loan arrangements to help pay for capital needs such as land and transportation.

Senate Bill 224 would let school liaisons for homeless students obtain students' vital records, such as birth certificates, so the students can qualify for McKinney-Vento services and funding.

The bill would require school districts and charter schools to adopt a written collection development policy and a policy for digital materials, plus a process for parents or others to request review of materials and a procedure for relocating materials when they are removed.

S.B. 269 would require school boards and other state and local school bodies to post meeting agendas at least 48 hours before each meeting.

The bill would place the Utah High School Activities Association under the oversight of the State Board of Education so the board can hold the association accountable.

Starting in 2028, this bill would let charter schools become eligible for state transportation funding, which current law bars them from receiving.

This bill would let students who live within two miles of their school qualify for existing state transportation funding when their walking route is clearly hazardous.

This bill changes state school law's definitions of school staff who provide mental health services, replacing broad 'other' counselor, social worker, and psychologist categories with specific job titles and required credentials.

This is a resolution from the Utah Legislature that honors the Utah Parent Teacher Association for its 100 years of work supporting parents, children, and the education community.

This bill would direct the state cybersecurity commission to write rules setting minimum cybersecurity standards for Utah schools, with a timeline for adopting them.