Special Education Amendments

6
53E-7-210
53G-4-402
0
Special Education Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Karen M. Peterson
Senate Sponsor: Heidi Balderree
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill creates a written notice requirement related to special education.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
requires a local education agency to give written notice to a parent of an eligible student
under certain circumstances;
enacts a certain exclusion related to the notice requirement; and
makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
This bill provides a special effective date.
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53G-4-402
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, First Special Session, Chapter 16
ENACTS:
53E-7-210
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
53E-7-210
is enacted to read:
53E-7-210
. Boundary change notice requirement.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
"Boundary change" means any change to the geographic boundary or school
assignment that affects the location of an eligible student's special class.
(b)
(i)
"Special class" means a placement on the continuum of alternative placements
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.
where an eligible student receives specially designed instruction in a class
designated only for a student with a disability.
(ii)
"Special class" does not mean a special enrollment program as that term is
defined in Subsection
53G-4-402(24)
.
(2)
(a)
If a boundary change will result in the relocation of an eligible student's special
class, the LEA where the eligible student is enrolled shall send the parent of the
eligible student written notice of the boundary change:
(i)
at least 30 days before the effective date of the boundary change;
(ii)
that includes, at minimum:
(A)
a description of the action, including the reason for the boundary change and
how the boundary change will impact the eligible student;
(B)
the name and location of the new school or program site;
(C)
instructions on how the parent may obtain more information about the
boundary change;
(D)
key dates and a timeline for implementation;
(E)
information about the new school or program, including contact information
for relevant staff;
(F)
information about scheduling an IEP meeting and other transfer services
available to the eligible student; and
(G)
instructions on how the parent may obtain other logistical information
relevant to the boundary change, including transportation arrangements; and
(iii)
through one or more of the following methods:
(A)
regular mail;
(B)
certified mail;
(C)
email; or
(D)
hand delivery.
(b)
Notwithstanding Subsection
(2)(a)
, an LEA is not required to notify a parent if the
boundary change that results in the relocation of an eligible student's special class
occurs due to compliance with Subsection
53G-4-402(24)
.
(3)
Before implementing a boundary change that affects a special class an LEA shall:
(a)
provide a parent of an affected eligible student an opportunity to submit a written or
verbal comment regarding the proposed boundary change; and
(b)
document and consider each comment the LEA receives before making a final
decision.
Section 2. 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 special 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
student 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 school board members.
(4)
(a)
A local school board may participate in the joint construction or operation of a
school attended by students residing within the district and students 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)
A local school board may enter into cooperative agreements with other local school
boards to provide educational services that best utilize resources for the overall
operation of the school districts, including shared transportation services.
(7)
A local school board shall ensure that an agreement under Subsection
(6)
:
(a)
is signed by the president of the local school board of each participating district;
(b)
specifies the resource being shared;
(c)
includes a mutually agreed upon pro rata cost;
(d)
includes the duration of the agreement; and
(e)
is filed with the state board.
(8)
(a)
Except as provided in Section
53E-3-905
and Subsection
(8)(b)
, 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.
(b)
A local school board may enroll a child in kindergarten who does not meet the age
requirement described in Subsection
(8)(a)
if the child:
(i)
moves to Utah from a different state in which the child, during the relevant school
year:
(A)
was a resident; and
(B)
was enrolled in kindergarten in accordance with the previous state's age
requirements for kindergarten enrollment; and
(ii)
transfers to the enrolling school after the beginning of the same school year.
(9)
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.
(10)
A local school board may collect damages for the loss, injury, or destruction of school
property.
(11)
A local school board may authorize guidance and counseling services for students and
the student's parents before, during, or following school enrollment.
(12)
(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.
(13)
(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.
(14)
(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)
The contributions made under Subsection
(14)(a)
are not subject to appropriation by
the Legislature.
(15)
(a)
A local school board may appoint and fix the compensation of a compliance
officer to issue citations for violations of Subsection
76-9-1106(3)(c)
.
(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.
(16)
A local school board shall adopt bylaws and policies for the local school board's own
procedures.
(17)
(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.
(18)
A local school board may hold school on legal holidays other than Sundays.
(19)
(a)
A local school board shall establish for each school year a school traffic safety
committee to implement this Subsection
(19)
.
(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)
in consultation with the Utah Safety Council and the Division of Family Health,
provide training to all students 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
(19)(c)
.
(20)
(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 school vehicles, and in connection with
school-related activities or events.
(b)
The local school board shall ensure that the plan:
(i)
includes prevention, intervention, and response components;
(ii)
is consistent with the school discipline and conduct policies required for school
districts under Chapter
8, Part 2
, School Discipline and Conduct Plans;
(iii)
requires professional learning for all district and school building staff on the
staff's roles in the emergency response plan;
(iv)
provides 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
(20)(a)
; and
(v)
includes procedures to notify a student 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
(20)(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 the student's parents and local law enforcement
and public safety representatives.
(21)
(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
(21)(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
(21)
.
(22)
(a)
A local school board shall approve an LEA's policies and procedures that an
LEA develops to ensure that students have non-electronic notification of and access
to:
(i)
school activities and events, including:
(A)
schedule changes;
(B)
extracurricular activities; and
(C)
sporting events; and
(ii)
the emergency response plans described in Subsections
(20)
and
(21)
.
(b)
Notwithstanding Subsection
(22)(a)
, an LEA may provide electronic notification of
and access to school activities and events as described in Subsections
(22)(a)(i)
and
(ii)
if:
(i)
(A)
the school provides each student with an electronic device; and
(B)
the electronic device is capable of receiving electronic notification of and
access to school activities and events as described in Subsections
(22)(a)(i)
and
(ii)
; or
(ii)
an emergency, unforeseen circumstance, or other incident arises and an LEA
cannot reasonably provide timely non-electronic notification.
(c)
An LEA may not require the use of a privately owned electronic device to complete
course work.
(23)
A local school board shall do all other things necessary for the maintenance,
prosperity, and success of the schools and the promotion of education.
(24)
(a)
(i)
As used in this subsection, "special enrollment program" means a full-day
academic program in which a parent opts to enroll the parent's student and that is
offered at a specifically designated school within an LEA, including:
(i)
(A)
gifted or advanced learning programs; or
(ii)
(B)
dual language immersion programs.
(ii)
"Special enrollment program" does not mean a special class as that term is
defined in Section
53E-7-210
.
(b)
Before closing a school, changing the boundaries of a school, or changing or closing
the location of a special enrollment program, a local school board shall:
(i)
at a local school board meeting, make and approve a motion to initiate the
notification required under Subsections
(24)(b)(ii)
through
(iv)
;
(ii)
on or before 90 days before the day on which the local school board approves the
school closure or at least 30 days before the day on which the local school board
approves a school boundary change, provide notice that the local school board is
considering the closure or boundary change to:
(A)
parents of students enrolled in the school, using the same form of
communication the local school board regularly uses to communicate with
parents and also by mail, using the United States Postal Service, to the parents
at each known address;
(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 also by mail, using the United States Postal Service, to the parents
at each known address; and
(C)
the governing council and the mayor of the municipality in which the school is
located;
(iii)
provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposed school closure
during at least two public local school board meetings;
(iv)
provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposed school boundary
change during one public local school board meeting; and
(v)
hold a public hearing as defined in Section
10-20-102
and provide public notice
of the public hearing in accordance with Subsection
(24)(c)
.
(c)
A local school board shall:
(i)
ensure that the notice of a public hearing required under Subsection
(24)(b)(v)

indicates the:
(A)
name of the school or schools under consideration for closure or boundary
change; and
(B)
the date, time, and location of the public hearing;
(ii)
if feasible, hold the public hearing at the location of the school that is under
consideration for closure;
(iii)
for at least 10 days before the day on which the public hearing occurs, publish
the notice of public hearing occurs, publish the notice of the public hearing for the
school district in which the school is located, as a class A notice under Section
63G-30-102
; and
(iv)
at least 30 days before the day on which the public hearing occurs, provide notice
of the public hearing in the same manner as the notice of consideration under
Subsection
(24)(b)(ii)
.
(d)
A motion made under Subsection
(24)(b)
shall name each school under consideration
for closure in a separate motion.
(e)
For a school closure, a local school board shall complete the process described in this
Subsection
(24)
on or before December 31 of the calendar year preceding the
beginning of the school year in which a school closure takes effect.
(f)
(i)
For a school boundary change, a local school board shall complete the process
described in this Subsection
(24)
no more than 60 days after the day on which the
local school board votes to approve a school closure.
(ii)
Parents of students enrolled in a school affected by a boundary change shall have
at least 30 days after the day on which the local school board votes to approve a
school boundary change to request an out of area enrollment request in accordance
with Chapter
6, Part 4
, School District Enrollment.
(25)
A local school board may implement a facility energy efficiency program established
under Title
11, Chapter 44
, Performance Efficiency Act.
(26)
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
.
(27)
(a)
As used in this Subsection
(27)
:
(i)
"Learning material" means any learning material or resource used to deliver or
support a student's learning, including textbooks, reading materials, videos, digital
materials, websites, and other online applications.
(ii)
(A)
"Instructional material" means learning material that a local school board
adopts and approves for use within the LEA.
(B)
"Instructional material" does not include learning material used in a
concurrent enrollment, advanced placement, or international baccalaureate
program or class or another class with required instructional material that is not
subject to selection by the local school board.
(iii)
"Supplemental material" means learning material that:
(A)
an educator selects for classroom use; and
(B)
a local school board has not considered and adopted, approved, or prohibited
for classroom use within the LEA.
(b)
A local school board shall:
(i)
make instructional material that the school district uses readily accessible and
available for a parent to view;
(ii)
annually notify a parent of a student enrolled in the school district of how to
access the information described in Subsection
(27)(b)(i)
; and
(iii)
include on the school district's website information about how to access the
information described in Subsection
(27)(b)(i)
.
(c)
In selecting and approving instructional materials for use in the classroom, a local
school board shall:
(i)
establish an open process, involving educators and parents of students enrolled in
the LEA, to review and recommend instructional materials for board approval; and
(ii)
ensure that under the process described in Subsection
(27)(c)(i)
, the board:
(A)
before the meetings described in Subsection
(27)(c)(ii)(B)
, posts the
recommended learning material online to allow for public review or, for
copyrighted material, makes the recommended learning material available at
the LEA for public review;
(B)
before adopting or approving the recommended instructional materials, holds
at least two public meetings on the recommendation that provides an
opportunity for educators whom the LEA employs and parents of students
enrolled in the LEA to express views and opinions on the recommendation; and
(C)
adopts or approves the recommended instructional materials in an open and
regular board meeting.
(d)
A local school board shall adopt a supplemental materials policy that provides
flexible guidance to educators on the selection of supplemental materials or resources
that an educator reviews and selects for classroom use using the educator's
professional judgment, including whether any process or permission is required
before classroom use of the materials or resources.
(e)
If an LEA contracts with another party to provide online or digital materials, the
LEA shall include in the contract a requirement that the provider give notice to the
LEA any time that the provider makes a material change to the content of the online
or digital materials, excluding regular informational updates on current events.
(f)
Nothing in this Subsection
(27)
requires a local school board to review all learning
materials used within the LEA.
(28)
If information, data, or action from a school district is necessary for the state board to
fulfill a statutory data gathering, compliance, or reporting requirement, a local school
board shall provide the relevant information, data, or action, subject to enforcement
under Section
53E-3-401
.
Section 3.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
July 1, 2026
.
3-6-26 10:37 PM