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7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill requires a school traffic safety committee to include recommendations for
10 infrastructure improvements in a child access routing plan.
11 Highlighted Provisions:
12 This bill:
13 ▸ defines terms;
14 ▸ requires a school traffic safety committee to:
15 • submit a child access routing plan to the Department of Transportation and
16 municipal and county highway authorities; and
17 • include recommendations for infrastructure improvements in a child access
18 routing plan;
19 ▸ requires a highway authority to provide feedback on:
20 • the estimated time and cost to complete infrastructure improvements
21 recommended by a school traffic safety committee; and
22 • infrastructure improvements the highway authority has prioritized for the
23 following year; and
24 ▸ requires school traffic safety committees to report to the State Board of Education
25 and the Transportation Advisory Committee on recommended infrastructure
26 improvements included in a child access routing plan, and deliver recommendations for new
27 approved bus routes.
28 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
29 None
30 Other Special Clauses:
31 None
32 Utah Code Sections Affected:
33 AMENDS:
34 53G-4-402, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapters 83, 293, and 451
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36 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
37 Section 1. Section 53G-4-402 is amended to read:
38 53G-4-402. Powers and duties generally.
39 (1) A local school board shall:
40 (a) implement the core standards for Utah public schools using instructional materials
41 that best correlate to the core standards for Utah public schools and graduation requirements;
42 (b) administer tests, required by the state board, which measure the progress of each
43 student, and coordinate with the state superintendent and state board to assess results and create
44 plans to improve the student's progress, which shall be submitted to the state board for
45 approval;
46 (c) use progress-based assessments as part of a plan to identify schools, teachers, and
47 students that need remediation and determine the type and amount of federal, state, and local
48 resources to implement remediation;
49 (d) develop early warning systems for students or classes failing to make progress;
50 (e) work with the state board to establish a library of documented best practices,
51 consistent with state and federal regulations, for use by the local districts;
52 (f) implement training programs for school administrators, including basic
53 management training, best practices in instructional methods, budget training, staff
54 management, managing for learning results and continuous improvement, and how to help
55 every child achieve optimal learning in basic academic subjects; and
56 (g) ensure that the local school board meets the data collection and reporting standards
57 described in Section 53E-3-501.
58 (2) Local school boards shall spend Minimum School Program funds for programs and
59 activities for which the state board has established minimum standards or rules under Section
60 53E-3-501.
61 (3) (a) A local school board may purchase, sell, and make improvements on school
62 sites, buildings, and equipment and construct, erect, and furnish school buildings.
63 (b) School sites or buildings may only be conveyed or sold on local school board
64 resolution affirmed by at least two-thirds of the members.
65 (4) (a) A local school board may participate in the joint construction or operation of a
66 school attended by children residing within the district and children residing in other districts
67 either within or outside the state.
68 (b) Any agreement for the joint operation or construction of a school shall:
69 (i) be signed by the president of the local school board of each participating district;
70 (ii) include a mutually agreed upon pro rata cost; and
71 (iii) be filed with the state board.
72 (5) A local school board may establish, locate, and maintain elementary, secondary,
73 and applied technology schools.
74 (6) Except as provided in Section 53E-3-905, a local school board may enroll children
75 in school who are at least five years of age before September 2 of the year in which admission
76 is sought.
77 (7) A local school board may establish and support school libraries.
78 (8) A local school board may collect damages for the loss, injury, or destruction of
79 school property.
80 (9) A local school board may authorize guidance and counseling services for children
81 and their parents before, during, or following enrollment of the children in schools.
82 (10) (a) A local school board shall administer and implement federal educational
83 programs in accordance with Title 53E, Chapter 3, Part 8, Implementing Federal or National
84 Education Programs.
85 (b) Federal funds are not considered funds within the school district budget under
86 Chapter 7, Part 3, Budgets.
87 (11) (a) A local school board may organize school safety patrols and adopt policies
88 under which the patrols promote student safety.
89 (b) A student appointed to a safety patrol shall be at least 10 years old and have written
90 parental consent for the appointment.
91 (c) Safety patrol members may not direct vehicular traffic or be stationed in a portion
92 of a highway intended for vehicular traffic use.
93 (d) Liability may not attach to a school district, its employees, officers, or agents or to a
94 safety patrol member, a parent of a safety patrol member, or an authorized volunteer assisting
95 the program by virtue of the organization, maintenance, or operation of a school safety patrol.
96 (12) (a) A local school board may on its own behalf, or on behalf of an educational
97 institution for which the local school board is the direct governing body, accept private grants,
98 loans, gifts, endowments, devises, or bequests that are made for educational purposes.
99 (b) These contributions are not subject to appropriation by the Legislature.
100 (13) (a) A local school board may appoint and fix the compensation of a compliance
101 officer to issue citations for violations of Subsection 76-10-105(2).
102 (b) A person may not be appointed to serve as a compliance officer without the
103 person's consent.
104 (c) A teacher or student may not be appointed as a compliance officer.
105 (14) A local school board shall adopt bylaws and policies for the local school board's
106 own procedures.
107 (15) (a) A local school board shall make and enforce policies necessary for the control
108 and management of the district schools.
109 (b) Local school board policies shall be in writing, filed, and referenced for public
110 access.
111 (16) A local school board may hold school on legal holidays other than Sundays.
112 (17) (a) As used in this Subsection (17):
113 (i) "Committee" means the school traffic safety committee established in Subsection
114 (17)(b).
115 (ii) "Highway" means the same as that term is defined in Section 72-1-102.
116 (iii) "Highway authority" means the same as that term is defined in Section 72-1-102.
117 [
118 safety committee to implement this Subsection (17).
119 [
120 (i) the schools within the district;
121 (ii) the Parent Teachers' Association of the schools within the district;
122 (iii) the municipality or county;
123 (iv) state or local law enforcement; and
124 (v) state or local traffic safety engineering.
125 [
126 (i) receive suggestions from school community councils, parents, teachers, and others
127 and recommend school traffic safety improvements, boundary changes to enhance safety, and
128 school traffic safety program measures;
129 [
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133 and provide training to all school children in kindergarten through grade 6, within the district,
134 on school crossing safety and use; and
135 [
136 Transportation under Section 41-6a-303.
137 (e) (i) The committee shall, for each elementary, middle, and junior high school within
138 the district, annually submit a child access routing plan to the Department of Transportation
139 and the municipal or county highway authority that governs each highway included in the child
140 access routing plan.
141 (ii) The child access routing plan described in Subsection (17)(e)(i) shall:
142 (A) include recommendations for improvements to enhance safety, including the
143 recommendations received by the committee under Subsection (17)(d)(i); and
144 (B) consider the criteria and specifications established by Department of
145 Transportation rule made under Subsection 41-6a-303(6).
146 (iii) A municipal or county highway authority shall evaluate the recommendations for
147 improvements in the child access routing plan and provide feedback to the committee on the
148 improvements recommended in the child access routing plan that the municipal or county
149 highway authority has prioritized for the following year.
150 (iv) The Department of Transportation may review a child access routing plan as
151 resources allow, and provide feedback to the committee on recommended improvements.
152 (f) The committee shall annually submit to the state board and the Transportation
153 Advisory Committee described in Section 53F-2-403, a report that:
154 (i) includes the information provided in a child access routing plan;
155 (ii) indicates whether recommended improvements in a child access routing plan have
156 been included in an infrastructure grant under the program described in Section 72-8-109; and
157 (iii) if necessary, makes recommendations to approve new bus routes.
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159 accomplishing its duties under [
160 (18) (a) A local school board shall adopt and implement a comprehensive emergency
161 response plan to prevent and combat violence in the local school board's public schools, on
162 school grounds, on its school vehicles, and in connection with school-related activities or
163 events.
164 (b) The plan shall:
165 (i) include prevention, intervention, and response components;
166 (ii) be consistent with the student conduct and discipline policies required for school
167 districts under Chapter 11, Part 2, Miscellaneous Requirements;
168 (iii) require professional learning for all district and school building staff on what their
169 roles are in the emergency response plan;
170 (iv) provide for coordination with local law enforcement and other public safety
171 representatives in preventing, intervening, and responding to violence in the areas and activities
172 referred to in Subsection (18)(a); and
173 (v) include procedures to notify a student, to the extent practicable, who is off campus
174 at the time of a school violence emergency because the student is:
175 (A) participating in a school-related activity; or
176 (B) excused from school for a period of time during the regular school day to
177 participate in religious instruction at the request of the student's parent.
178 (c) The state board, through the state superintendent, shall develop comprehensive
179 emergency response plan models that local school boards may use, where appropriate, to
180 comply with Subsection (18)(a).
181 (d) A local school board shall, by July 1 of each year, certify to the state board that its
182 plan has been practiced at the school level and presented to and reviewed by its teachers,
183 administrators, students, and their parents and local law enforcement and public safety
184 representatives.
185 (19) (a) A local school board may adopt an emergency response plan for the treatment
186 of sports-related injuries that occur during school sports practices and events.
187 (b) The plan may be implemented by each secondary school in the district that has a
188 sports program for students.
189 (c) The plan may:
190 (i) include emergency personnel, emergency communication, and emergency
191 equipment components;
192 (ii) require professional learning on the emergency response plan for school personnel
193 who are involved in sports programs in the district's secondary schools; and
194 (iii) provide for coordination with individuals and agency representatives who:
195 (A) are not employees of the school district; and
196 (B) would be involved in providing emergency services to students injured while
197 participating in sports events.
198 (d) The local school board, in collaboration with the schools referred to in Subsection
199 (19)(b), may review the plan each year and make revisions when required to improve or
200 enhance the plan.
201 (e) The state board, through the state superintendent, shall provide local school boards
202 with an emergency plan response model that local school boards may use to comply with the
203 requirements of this Subsection (19).
204 (20) A local school board shall do all other things necessary for the maintenance,
205 prosperity, and success of the schools and the promotion of education.
206 (21) (a) Before closing a school or changing the boundaries of a school, a local school
207 board shall:
208 (i) at least 120 days before approving the school closure or school boundary change,
209 provide notice to the following that the local school board is considering the closure or
210 boundary change:
211 (A) parents of students enrolled in the school, using the same form of communication
212 the local school board regularly uses to communicate with parents;
213 (B) parents of students enrolled in other schools within the school district that may be
214 affected by the closure or boundary change, using the same form of communication the local
215 school board regularly uses to communicate with parents; and
216 (C) the governing council and the mayor of the municipality in which the school is
217 located;
218 (ii) provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposed school closure or
219 school boundary change during at least two public local school board meetings; and
220 (iii) hold a public hearing as defined in Section 10-9a-103 and provide public notice of
221 the public hearing as described in Subsection (21)(b).
222 (b) The notice of a public hearing required under Subsection (21)(a)(iii) shall:
223 (i) indicate the:
224 (A) school or schools under consideration for closure or boundary change; and
225 (B) the date, time, and location of the public hearing;
226 (ii) at least 10 days before the public hearing, be:
227 (A) published:
228 (I) in a newspaper of general circulation in the area; and
229 (II) on the Utah Public Notice Website created in Section 63F-1-701; and
230 (B) posted in at least three public locations within the municipality in which the school
231 is located on the school district's official website, and prominently at the school; and
232 (iii) at least 30 days before the public hearing described in Subsection (21)(a)(iii), be
233 provided as described in Subsections (21)(a)(i)(A), (B), and (C).
234 (22) A local school board may implement a facility energy efficiency program
235 established under Title 11, Chapter 44, Performance Efficiency Act.
236 (23) A local school board may establish or partner with a certified youth court
237 program, in accordance with Section 78A-6-1203, or establish or partner with a comparable
238 restorative justice program, in coordination with schools in that district. A school may refer a
239 student to youth court or a comparable restorative justice program in accordance with Section
240 53G-8-211.