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7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill creates a grant program for educator ethics training for school employees.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 ▸ creates a grant program to provide funding to school districts and charter schools to
13 provide educator ethics training to recently hired employees;
14 ▸ specifies required topics for an educator ethics training;
15 ▸ provides a formula for determining an educator ethics training grant amount;
16 ▸ specifies permitted uses for an educator ethics training grant;
17 ▸ requires an independent evaluation; and
18 ▸ makes technical changes.
19 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
20 This bill appropriates:
21 ▸ to the State Board of Education - State Office of Education - Initiative Programs, as
22 a one-time appropriation:
23 • from the Education Fund, $400,000.
24 Other Special Clauses:
25 None
26 Utah Code Sections Affected:
27 AMENDS:
28 63I-1-253, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2015, Chapters 62, 431, and 442
29 ENACTS:
30 53A-3-433, Utah Code Annotated 1953
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32 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
33 Section 1. Section 53A-3-433 is enacted to read:
34 53A-3-433. Educator Ethics Training Pilot Program.
35 (1) As used in this section:
36 (a) "Local education agency" or "LEA" means a:
37 (i) school district; or
38 (ii) charter school.
39 (b) "Pilot program" or "program" means the Educator Ethics Training Pilot Program
40 created in Subsection (2).
41 (c) "School employee" means an individual who:
42 (i) is an educator, as defined in Section 53A-6-103; or
43 (ii) (A) receives compensation from an LEA; and
44 (B) has significant unsupervised access to a student in connection with the individual's
45 assignment.
46 (2) (a) There is created the Educator Ethics Training Pilot Program to provide funding
47 to LEAs to offer educator ethics training to recently hired school employees.
48 (b) The program shall operate in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.
49 (c) An educator ethics training course funded through the program shall be provided in
50 person and cover the following topics:
51 (i) appropriate boundaries between a school employee and a:
52 (A) colleague;
53 (B) student; and
54 (C) parent of a student;
55 (ii) appropriate physical and verbal interaction between a school employee and a
56 student;
57 (iii) appropriate use of an electronic device by a school employee to communicate with
58 a student;
59 (iv) drug and alcohol use by a school employee;
60 (v) appropriate handling and management of school funds by a school employee; and
61 (vi) educator standards and sanctions, as described in State Board of Education rule.
62 (d) An LEA that receives a grant under this section shall ensure that the educator ethics
63 training course funded by the grant is consistent with:
64 (i) educator standards described in State Board of Education rule; or
65 (ii) national educator ethics standards.
66 (3) (a) To receive a grant described in this section, an LEA shall submit an application
67 to the board.
68 (b) In the application described in Subsection (3)(a), the LEA shall:
69 (i) describe how the LEA will use grant funds to offer an educator ethics training
70 course that covers the topics described in Subsection (2)(c); and
71 (ii) indicate the number of school employees who have been employed by the LEA for
72 three years or fewer.
73 (4) (a) Subject to legislative appropriations, the board shall award a grant to each LEA
74 that:
75 (i) submits a complete application as described in Subsection (3)(a), by the date
76 described in Subsection (4)(b);
77 (ii) agrees to provide matching funds, which may include cash or in-kind matching
78 funds, equal to 25% of the amount of grant funds the LEA receives for the program; and
79 (iii) agrees to provide information to the board as needed for the evaluation described
80 in Subsection (7).
81 (b) The board shall choose an application deadline to ensure that an LEA that receives
82 a grant under this section may offer an educator ethics training on or before November 30,
83 2016.
84 (5) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (5)(b), the board shall distribute funds
85 appropriated under this section by:
86 (i) providing a base amount of $1,000 to each LEA that receives a grant described in
87 Subsection (4); and
88 (ii) distributing the remaining funds proportionately to each LEA that receives a grant,
89 based on the number of school employees the LEA hired in the past three years.
90 (b) If legislative appropriations are insufficient to provide the base amount described in
91 Subsection (5)(a)(i) to each LEA that receives a grant, the board may determine how to allocate
92 funding appropriated under this section.
93 (6) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (6)(b), an LEA that receives a grant under this
94 section shall use the grant to provide educator ethics training to recently hired school
95 employees, including to:
96 (i) develop an educator ethics training course that covers the topics described in
97 Subsection (2)(c);
98 (ii) modify or tailor an existing ethics training for a specific group of educators;
99 (iii) provide training materials to an employee who attends an educator ethics training
100 course; or
101 (iv) pay a stipend to a school employee to participate in an educator ethics training
102 course.
103 (b) An LEA that receives a grant under this section may, in accordance with Title 63G,
104 Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, contract with a third party to develop or modify an
105 educator ethics training as described in Subsections (6)(a)(i) and (6)(a)(ii).
106 (c) An LEA that receives a grant under this section may:
107 (i) determine which recently hired employees are required to attend the training; and
108 (ii) use the grant to provide educator ethics training to a volunteer who has significant
109 unsupervised access to students.
110 (7) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Procurement Code, the board shall
111 enter into a contract with an independent evaluator to assess the implementation of the
112 program, including:
113 (a) the program's effectiveness in reducing instances of school employee misconduct;
114 and
115 (b) program participant and administrator feedback on the usefulness of the program.
116 Section 2. Section 63I-1-253 is amended to read:
117 63I-1-253. Repeal dates, Titles 53, 53A, and 53B.
118 The following provisions are repealed on the following dates:
119 [
120 [
121 [
122 [
123 repealed July 1, 2020.
124 (4) Section 53A-3-433 is repealed July 1, 2019.
125 (5) The State Instructional Materials Commission, created in Section 53A-14-101, is
126 repealed July 1, 2016.
127 (6) Section 53A-15-106 is repealed July 1, 2019.
128 (7) Subsections 53A-16-113(3) and (4) are repealed December 31, 2016.
129 (8) Section 53A-16-114 is repealed December 31, 2016.
130 (9) Section 53A-17a-163, Performance-based Compensation Pilot Program is repealed
131 July 1, 2016.
132 (10) Section 53B-24-402, Rural residency training program, is repealed July 1, 2020.
133 (11) Subsection 53C-3-203(4)(b)(vii), which provides for the distribution of money
134 from the Land Exchange Distribution Account to the Geological Survey for test wells, other
135 hydrologic studies, and air quality monitoring in the West Desert, is repealed July 1, 2020.
136 Section 3. Appropriation.
137 Under the terms and conditions of Title 63J, Chapter 1, Budgetary Procedures Act, for
138 the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2017, the following sums of money
139 are appropriated from resources not otherwise appropriated, or reduced from amounts
140 previously appropriated, out of the funds or amounts indicated. These sums of money are in
141 addition to amounts previously appropriated for fiscal year 2017.
142 To State Board of Education -- State Office of Education -- Initiative Programs
143 From Education Fund, One-time
$400,000
144 Schedule of Programs:
145 Educator Ethics Training Pilot Program $400,000
146 The Legislature intends that:
147 (1) the State Board of Education use up to $20,000 of the appropriation for the State
148 Board of Education to conduct the evaluation described in Subsection 53A-3-433(7); and
149 (2) the appropriation provided in this section be nonlapsing.
Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel