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USDB board approves health and human instructional policy after amendment fails
Summary
The Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind board approved a revised health and human instructional materials policy that adds a complaints and appeals procedure and incorporates language from the state legislature; an amendment to remove a definition failed.
The Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB) Board voted to approve a revised health and human instructional materials policy after debate about a definition in the rule and a failed amendment to strike it.
The board’s approval, made during an agenda item on instructional materials, follows staff updates that added a complaint-and-appeal procedure and inserted verbatim language from the state legislature required for the board’s assurances. The board heard a motion to remove definition 2.3 — which Member Earl described as a requirement that documents be “medically accurate” — but that motion failed before the board approved the policy.
Superintendent Tanner told the board the change was needed for the board’s assurances: “we have to note what our appeals process is. So it's very similar to the discussion you were having earlier about who do you go to if you have a concern. So that's at the very bottom.” The added appeals language, she said, mirrors what the state legislature requires.
Member Earl moved to strike definition 2.3, arguing the “medically accurate” language created an extra verification step and was not necessary in the board’s rule. Earl said, in part, that the amendment would remove what she described as “1 more layer” of verification and that the regular approval process already ensures accuracy.
The board voted on the amendment first. The motion to strike definition 2.3 failed: the board recorded 5 in favor, 2 abstentions (Member Lear and Member Brenton) and 2 opposing votes (Member Wood and Member Bollinger). Afterward, Vice Chair Wood moved that the board approve the USDB health and human instructional policy. That motion passed on the full board vote.
The record shows the board reached approval after the failed amendment, and the updated policy will be the version that USDB includes in its assurances to the state.
Board members and staff emphasized that the change was intended to meet statutory requirements and clarify the process families or staff would use to appeal instructional-material decisions. The action does not itself change the curriculum; rather, it documents the appeals route and incorporates required legislative language into board policy.
The board proceeded to other agenda items after the vote.
