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PUBLIC EDUCATION ENROLLMENT APPLICATION

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AMENDMENTS

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2018 GENERAL SESSION

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STATE OF UTAH

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Chief Sponsor: Daniel Hemmert

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House Sponsor: Adam Robertson

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8     LONG TITLE
9     General Description:
10          This bill amends provisions related to local school board rules governing acceptance or
11     rejection of an enrollment request.
12     Highlighted Provisions:
13          This bill:
14          ▸     enacts language related to local school board standards for accepting or rejecting an
15     application for enrollment; and
16          ▸     makes technical and conforming changes.
17     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
18          None
19     Other Special Clauses:
20          None
21     Utah Code Sections Affected:
22     AMENDS:
23          53G-6-403, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 3
24     

25     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
26          Section 1. Section 53G-6-403 is amended to read:
27          53G-6-403. Rules for acceptance and rejection of applications.
28          (1) (a) A local school board shall adopt rules governing acceptance and rejection of
29     applications required under Section 53G-6-402.

30          (b) The rules adopted under Subsection (1)(a) shall include policies and procedures to
31     assure that decisions regarding enrollment requests are administered fairly without prejudice to
32     any student or class of student, except as provided in Subsection (2).
33          (2) Standards for accepting or rejecting an application for enrollment may include:
34          (a) for an elementary school, the capacity of the grade level;
35          (b) for a secondary school, the capacity of a comprehensive program;
36          [(b)] (c) maintenance of heterogeneous student populations if necessary to avoid
37     violation of constitutional or statutory rights of students;
38          [(c)] (d) not offering, or having capacity in, an elementary or secondary special
39     education or other special program the student requires;
40          [(d)] (e) maintenance of reduced class sizes:
41          (i) in a Title I school that uses federal, state, and local money to reduce class sizes for
42     the purpose of improving student achievement; or
43          (ii) in a school that uses school trust money to reduce class size;
44          [(e)] (f) willingness of prospective students to comply with district policies; and
45          [(f)] (g) giving priority to intradistrict transfers over interdistrict transfers.
46          (3) (a) Standards for accepting or rejecting applications for enrollment may not
47     include:
48          (i) previous academic achievement;
49          (ii) athletic or other extracurricular ability;
50          (iii) the fact that the student requires special education services for which space is
51     available;
52          (iv) proficiency in the English language; or
53          (v) previous disciplinary proceedings, except as provided in Subsection (3)(b).
54          (b) A board may provide for the denial of applications from students who:
55          (i) have committed serious infractions of the law or school rules, including rules of the
56     district in which enrollment is sought; or
57          (ii) have been guilty of chronic misbehavior which would, if it were to continue after

58     the student was admitted:
59          (A) endanger persons or property;
60          (B) cause serious disruptions in the school; or
61          (C) place unreasonable burdens on school staff.
62          (c) A board may also provide for provisional enrollment of students with prior
63     behavior problems, establishing conditions under which enrollment of a nonresident student
64     would be permitted or continued.
65          (4) (a) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Utah High School
66     Activities Association, shall establish policies regarding nonresident student participation in
67     interscholastic competition.
68          (b) Nonresident students shall be eligible for extracurricular activities at a public
69     school consistent with eligibility standards as applied to students that reside within the school
70     attendance area, except as provided by policies established under Subsection (4)(a).
71          (5) For each school in the district, the local school board shall post on the school
72     district's website:
73          (a) the school's maximum capacity;
74          (b) the school's adjusted capacity;
75          (c) the school's projected enrollment used in the calculation of the open enrollment
76     threshold;
77          (d) actual enrollment on October 1, January 2, and April 1;
78          (e) the number of nonresident student enrollment requests;
79          (f) the number of nonresident student enrollment requests accepted; and
80          (g) the number of resident students transferring to another school.