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STANDING COMMITTEE
March 1, 2011
Room 445, State Capitol Building
Rep. LaVar Christensen, Vice Chair
Rep. Patrice Arent
Rep. Becky Edwards
Rep. Steve Eliason
Rep. Greg Hughes
Rep. Rebecca Lockhart
Rep. John Mathis
Rep. Kay McIff
Rep. Carol Spackman Moss
Rep. Merlynn Newbold
Rep. Marie Poulson
Rep. Kraig Powell
Rep. Holly Richardson
Rep. Ken Sumsion
STAFF PRESENT: Constance C. Steffen, Policy Analyst
Linda Service, Committee Secretary
Note: List of visitors and copy of handouts are filed with committee minutes.
Rep. Wright called the meeting to order at 8:10 a.m.
MOTION: Rep. Arent moved to approve the minutes of February 25, 2011. The motion passed unanimously. Rep. Edwards, Rep. Hughes, Rep. Lockhart, Rep. McIff, and Rep. Newbold were absent for the vote.
H.B. 123 K-12 Education Amendments (Rep. K. Sumsion)
MOTION: Rep. Sumsion moved to amend the bill as follows:
1. Page 1, Line 9 :
9 This bill modifies the funding
2. Page 1, Line 12 :
12
3. Page 1, Lines 23 through 26 :
23
24 20A-14-201, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2007, Chapter 215
25 20A-14-202, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 8
26 20A-14-203, as enacted by Laws of Utah 1995, Chapter 1 }
4. Page 4, Line 107 through Page 8, Line 243 :
107
108 20A-1-511. Midterm vacancies on local school boards.
109 (1) (a) A local school board shall fill vacancies on the board by appointment[, except as
110 otherwise provided in Subsection (2)].
111 (b) If the board fails to make an appointment within 30 days after a vacancy occurs, the
112 county legislative body, or municipal legislative body in a city district, shall fill the vacancy by
113 appointment.
114 (c) A member appointed and qualified under this subsection shall serve until a
115 successor is elected or appointed and qualified.
116 [(2) (a) A vacancy on the board shall be filled by an interim appointment, followed by
117 an election to fill a two-year term if:]
118 [(i) the vacancy on the board occurs, or a letter of resignation is received by the board,
119 at least 14 days before the deadline for filing a declaration of candidacy; and]
120 [(ii) two years of the vacated term will remain after the first Monday of January
121 following the next school board election.]
122 [(b) Members elected under this subsection shall serve for the remaining two years of
123 the vacated term and until a successor is elected and qualified.]
124 [(3)] (2) Before appointing a person to fill a vacancy under this section, the local
125 school board shall:
126 (a) give public notice of the vacancy at least two weeks before the local school
board
127
meets to fill the vacancy; and
128
(b) identify, in the notice:
129
(i) the date, time, and place of the meeting where the vacancy will be filled; and
130
(ii) the person to whom a person interested in being appointed to fill the
vacancy may
131
submit his name for consideration and any deadline for submitting it.
132
Section 2.
Section
20A-14-201
is amended to read:
133
20A-14-201. Boards of education -- School board districts -- Creation --
134
Reapportionment.
135
(1) (a) The county legislative body, for local school districts whose boundaries
136
encompass more than a single municipality, and the municipal legislative body, for
school
137
districts contained completely within a municipality, shall divide the local school
district into
138
local school board districts as required under [Subsection
20A-14-202
(1)(a)] Section
139
20A-14-202
.
140
(b) The county and municipal legislative bodies shall divide the school district
so that
141
the local school board districts are substantially equal in population and are as
contiguous and
142
compact as practicable.
143
(2) (a) County and municipal legislative bodies shall reapportion district
boundaries to
144
meet the population, compactness, and contiguity requirements of this section:
145
(i) at least once every 10 years;
146
(ii) if a new district is created:
147
(A) within 45 days after the canvass of an election at which voters approve the
creation
148
of a new district; and
149
(B) at least 60 days before the candidate filing deadline for a school board
election;
150
(iii) whenever districts are consolidated;
151
(iv) whenever a district loses more than 20% of the population of the entire
school
152 district to another district;
153 (v) whenever a district loses more than 50% of the population of a local school board
154 district to another district;
155 (vi) whenever a district receives new residents equal to at least 20% of the population
156 of the district at the time of the last reapportionment because of a transfer of territory from
157 another district; and
158 (vii) whenever it is necessary to increase the membership of a board from five to seven
159 members as a result of changes in student membership under Section 20A-14-202 .
160 (b) If a school district receives territory containing less than 20% of the population of
161 the transferee district at the time of the last reapportionment, the local school board may assign
162 the new territory to one or more existing school board districts.
163 (3) (a) Reapportionment does not affect the right of any school board member to
164 complete the term for which the member was elected.
165 (b) (i) After reapportionment, representation in a local school board district shall be
166 determined as provided in this Subsection (3).
167 (ii) If only one board member whose term extends beyond reapportionment lives
168 within a reapportioned local school board district, that board member shall represent that local
169 school board district.
170 (iii) (A) If two or more members whose terms extend beyond reapportionment live
171 within a reapportioned local school board district, the members involved shall select one
172 member by lot to represent the local school board district.
173 (B) The other members shall serve at-large for the remainder of their terms.
174 (C) The at-large board members shall serve in addition to the designated
number of
175
board members for the board in question for the remainder of their terms.
176
(iv) If there is no board member living within a local school board district
whose term
177
extends beyond reapportionment, the seat shall be treated as vacant and filled as
provided in
178
this part.
179
[(4) (a) If, before an election affected by reapportionment, the county or
municipal
180
legislative body that conducted the reapportionment determines that one or more
members
181
must be elected to terms of two years to meet this part's requirements for staggered
terms, the
182
legislative body shall determine by lot which of the reapportioned local school board
districts
183
will elect members to two-year terms and which will elect members to four-year
terms.]
184
[(b) All subsequent elections are for four-year terms.]
185
[(5)] (4) Within 10 days after any local school board district boundary change,
the
186
county or municipal legislative body making the change shall send an accurate map
or plat of
187
the boundary change to the Automated Geographic Reference Center created under
Section
188
63F-1-506
.
189
Section 3.
Section
20A-14-202
is amended to read:
190
20A-14-202. Local boards of education -- Membership -- When elected --
191
Qualifications -- Avoiding conflicts of interest.
192
(1) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (1)(b), the board of education of a
school
193
district with a student population of up to 24,000 students shall consist of five
members.
194
(b) The board of education of a school district with a student population of
more than
195
10,000 students but fewer than 24,000 students shall increase from five to seven
members
196
beginning with the 2004 regular general election.
197
(c) The board of education of a school district with a student population of
24,000 or
198
more students shall consist of seven members.
199
(d) Student population is based on the October 1 student count submitted by
districts to
200
the State Office of Education.
201
(e) If the number of members of a local school board is required to change
under
202
Subsection (1)(b), the board shall be reapportioned and elections conducted as
provided in
203
Sections
20A-14-201
and
20A-14-203
.
204
(f) A school district which now has or increases to a seven-member board shall
205
maintain a seven-member board regardless of subsequent changes in student
population.
206
(g) [(i)] Members of a local board of education shall be elected at each regular
general
207
election.
208
[(ii) Except as provided in Subsection (1)(g)(iii), no more than three members
of a
209
local board of education may be elected to a five-member board, nor more than four
members
210
elected to a seven-member board, in any election year.]
211
[(iii) More than three members of a local board of education may be elected to
a
212
five-member board and more than four members elected to a seven-member board
in any
213
election year only when required by reapportionment or to fill a vacancy or to
implement
214
Subsection (1)(b).]
215
(h) One member of the local board of education shall be elected from each local
school
216
board district.
217
(2) (a) For an election held after the 2008 general election, a person seeking
election to
218
a local school board must have been a resident of the local school board district in
which the
219
person is seeking election for at least one year as of the date of the election.
220
(b) A person who has resided within the local school board district, as the
boundaries
221
of the district exist on the date of the election, for one year immediately preceding
the date of
222
the election shall be considered to have met the requirements of this Subsection (2).
223
(3) A member of a local school board shall:
224
(a) be and remain a registered voter in the local school board district from
which the
225
member is elected or appointed; and
226
(b) maintain the member's primary residence within the local school board
district from
227
which the member is elected or appointed during the member's term of office.
228
(4) A member of a local school board may not, during the member's term in
office, also
229
serve as an employee of that board.
230
Section 4.
Section
20A-14-203
is amended to read:
231
20A-14-203. Becoming a member of a local board of education -- Declaration
of
232
candidacy -- Election.
233
(1) An individual may become a candidate for a local school board by filing a
234
declaration of candidacy with the county clerk and paying the fee as required by
Section
235
20A-9-202
.
236
(2) (a) The term of office for an individual elected to a local board of education
before
237
January 1, 2012, is four years, beginning on the first Monday in January after the
election.
238
(b) The term of office for an individual elected to a local board of education
after
239
January 1, 2012, is two years, beginning on the first Monday in January after the
election.
240 [(b)] (c) A member of a local board of education shall serve until a successor is elected
241 or appointed and qualified.
242 [(c)] (d) A member of a local board of education is "qualified" when the member takes
243 or signs the constitutional oath of office. }
The motion to amend passed unanimously. Rep. Edwards, Rep. Hughes, Rep. Lockhart, and Rep. McIff were absent for the vote.
Rep. Sumsion introduced the bill which modifies the funding and governance of public schools.
The following spoke to the bill:
Martell Menlove, Deputy Superintendent, Utah State Office of Education
Ray Timothy, Superintendent, Park City School District
Charri Brummer, Deputy Director, Division of Child and Family Services, spoke in opposition to the bill.
MOTION: Rep. Christensen moved to hold H.B. 123 as amended with the intent to send it to interim study. The motion passed unanimously. Rep. Edwards, Rep. Hughes, and Rep. Lockhart were absent for the vote.
H.B. 313 Charter School Funding Amendments (Rep. M. Newbold)
MOTION: Rep. Newbold moved to amend the bill as follows:
1. Page 1, Line 21 :
21 Enrollment Growth Program;
. requires the state superintendent of public instruction to annually report on the number of a school district's resident students enrolled in charter schools and the school district's contribution of local property taxes per charter school student;
2. Page 2, Lines 29 through 33 :
29 Utah Code Sections Affected:
30 AMENDS:
31
32
33 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
53A-1-301 . Appointment -- Qualifications -- Duties.
(1) (a) The State Board of Education shall appoint a superintendent of public instruction, hereinafter called the state superintendent, who is the executive officer of the board and serves at the pleasure of the board.
(b) The board shall appoint the state superintendent on the basis of outstanding professional qualifications.
(c) The state superintendent shall administer all programs assigned to the State Board of Education in accordance with the policies and the standards established by the board.
(2) The superintendent shall develop a statewide education strategy focusing on core academics, including the development of:
(a) core curriculum and graduation requirements;
(b) a process to select instructional materials that best correlate to the core curriculum and graduation requirements that are supported by generally accepted scientific standards of evidence;
(c) professional development programs for teachers, superintendents, and principals;
(d) remediation programs;
(e) a method for creating individual student learning targets, and a method of measuring an individual student's performance toward those targets;
(f) progress-based assessments for ongoing performance evaluations of districts and schools;
(g) incentives to achieve the desired outcome of individual student progress in core academics, and which do not create disincentives for setting high goals for the students;
(h) an annual report card for school and district performance, measuring learning and reporting progress-based assessments;
(i) a systematic method to encourage innovation in schools and school districts as they strive to achieve improvement in their performance; and
(j) a method for identifying and sharing best demonstrated practices across districts and schools.
(3) The superintendent shall perform duties assigned by the board, including the following:
(a) investigating all matters pertaining to the public schools;
(b) adopting and keeping an official seal to authenticate the superintendent's official acts;
(c) holding and conducting meetings, seminars, and conferences on educational topics;
(d) presenting to the governor and the Legislature each December a report of the public school system for the preceding year to include:
(i) data on the general condition of the schools with recommendations considered desirable for specific programs;
(ii) a complete statement of fund balances;
(iii) a complete statement of revenues by fund and source;
(iv) a complete statement of adjusted expenditures by fund, the status of bonded indebtedness, the cost of new school plants, and school levies;
(v) a complete statement of state funds allocated to each school district and charter school by source, including supplemental appropriations, and a complete statement of expenditures by each school district and charter school, including supplemental appropriations, by function and object as outlined in the U.S. Department of Education publication "Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems";
(vi) a complete statement, by school district and charter school, of the amount of and percentage increase or decrease in expenditures from the previous year attributed to:
(A) wage increases, with expenditure data for base salary adjustments identified separately from step and lane expenditures;
(B) medical and dental premium cost adjustments; and
(C) adjustments in the number of teachers and other staff;
{
(A) alcohol and drug abuse;
(B) weapon possession;
(C) assaults; and
(D) arson;
(A) the development and implementation of the strategy of focusing on core academics;
(B) the development and implementation of competency-based education and progress-based assessments; and
(C) the results being achieved under Subsections (3)(d)(ix)(A) and (B), as measured by individual progress-based assessments and a comparison of Utah students' progress with the progress of students in other states using standardized norm-referenced tests as benchmarks; and
(e) collecting and organizing education data into an automated decision support system to facilitate school district and school improvement planning, accountability reporting, performance recognition, and the evaluation of educational policy and program effectiveness to include:
(i) data that are:
(A) comparable across schools and school districts;
(B) appropriate for use in longitudinal studies; and
(C) comprehensive with regard to the data elements required under applicable state or federal law or state board rule;
(ii) features that enable users, most particularly school administrators, teachers, and parents, to:
(A) retrieve school and school district level data electronically;
(B) interpret the data visually; and
(C) draw conclusions that are statistically valid; and
(iii) procedures for the collection and management of education data that:
(A) require the state superintendent of public instruction to:
(I) collaborate with school districts in designing and implementing uniform data standards and definitions;
(II) undertake or sponsor research to implement improved methods for analyzing education data;
(III) provide for data security to prevent unauthorized access to or contamination of the data; and
(IV) protect the confidentiality of data under state and federal privacy laws; and
(B) require all school districts and schools to comply with the data collection and management procedures established under Subsection (3)(e);
(f) administering and implementing federal educational programs in accordance with Title 53A, Chapter 1, Part 9, Implementing Federal Programs Act; and
(g) with the approval of the board, preparing and submitting to the governor a budget for the board to be included in the budget that the governor submits to the Legislature.
(4) The state superintendent shall distribute funds deposited in the Autism Awareness Restricted Account created in Section 53A-1-304 in accordance with the requirements of Section 53A-1-304 .
(5) Upon leaving office, the state superintendent shall deliver to the state superintendent's successor all books, records, documents, maps, reports, papers, and other articles pertaining to the state superintendent's office.
(6) (a) For the purpose of Subsection (3)(d)(vii):
(i) the pupil-teacher ratio for a school shall be calculated by dividing the number of students enrolled in a school by the number of full-time equivalent teachers assigned to the school, including regular classroom teachers, school-based specialists, and special education teachers;
(ii) the pupil-teacher ratio for a school district shall be the median pupil-teacher ratio of the schools within a school district;
(iii) the pupil-teacher ratio for charter schools aggregated shall be the median pupil-teacher ratio of charter schools in the state; and
(iv) the pupil-teacher ratio for the state's public schools aggregated shall be the median pupil-teacher ratio of public schools in the state.
(b) The printed copy of the report required by Subsection (3)(d) shall:
(i) include the pupil-teacher ratio for:
(A) each school district;
(B) the charter schools aggregated; and
(C) the state's public schools aggregated; and
(ii) indicate the Internet website where pupil-teacher ratios for each school in the
state may be accessed.
Renumber remaining sections accordingly.
3. Page
2, Line 37
:
37
(a) "
Charter school students' average local revenues
}
Average district
per pupil local revenues
" means the amount determined as
4. Page
7, Line 193
:
193
[(iv) (A)] (e) (i) If the appropriation provided under this Subsection (4)[(d)]
(e)
}
is [less
The motion passed unanimously. Rep. Arent, Rep. Edwards, Rep. Hughes, Rep. Lockhart, and
Rep. Christensen were absent for the vote.
Rep. Newbold introduced the bill which modifies funding provided to a charter school to replace
local discretionary property taxes that are not available to charter schools.
The following spoke in opposition to the bill:
Kory Holdaway, Utah Education Association
Claire Geddes, citizen
Patti Harrington, Associate Director, Utah School Boards Association and Utah
School Superintendents Association
Chris Bleak, Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, spoke in favor of the bill.
MOTION: Rep. Richardson moved to pass out H.B. 313 as amended with a favorable
recommendation. The motion passed with Rep. Edwards, Rep. McIff, Rep. Moss, Rep. Poulson,
and Rep. Powell voting in opposition to the motion. Rep. Arent and Rep. Christensen were
absent for the vote.
MOTION: Rep. Moss moved to adjourn at 9:33 a.m. The motion passed unanimously. Rep.
Arent and Rep. Christensen were absent for the vote.
____________________________________
Rep. Bill Wright, Chair