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House approves ban on alcohol in schools but exempts classroom uses with local board approval
Summary
The Utah House passed Senate Bill 18 on Feb. 4, 1998, prohibiting alcohol on school property but inserting an amendment allowing classroom uses for curriculum-approved instruction if a local school board approves. Supporters said the change prevents abuses at temporary leases; opponents pressed for clarity about classroom experiments and supervision. Vote: 67–1.
The Utah House on Feb. 4 approved Senate Bill 18, a bill intended to tighten prohibitions on alcohol at school facilities while explicitly allowing classroom uses when sanctioned by a local school board.
Sponsor Representative Dilly told the House the bill makes modest amendments to existing law to close a loophole that had allowed alcohol at certain temporary leases of school buildings, saying the changes "address a problem that has arose up in the Park City area where it was anticipated that people would be coming in and leasing the school facility on a temporary basis and providing alcoholic beverages at that time." He said the measure had support from the State Board of Education.
During floor debate members raised questions about whether the bill would bar possession for instructional or experimental purposes. One member asked whether the prohibition covered possession for classroom use; sponsors said the intent was to target consumption. Representative Cox offered an amendment to preserve instructional flexibility, moving to insert after subsection 1 the phrase "except as approved by a local school board as part of the curriculum." Cox explained the change would "provide for those teaching opportunities in the schools to use alcohol, or alcoholic beverages" in a controlled, curricular context.
The House adopted the Cox amendment and then voted to pass SB 18, with the clerk announcing the tally as 67 yes and 1 no. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Why it matters: School districts and local boards will retain discretion to permit limited classroom use of alcohol for teaching purposes — for example, supervised experiments or demonstrations — while the statute aims to prevent alcohol from being served at leased events on school property.
What to watch next: If enacted by the Senate, school districts and local boards will need to develop policies and approval processes for any curricular instructional uses of alcohol to ensure appropriate supervision and to preserve the law’s intent to prohibit recreational consumption on school property.
Quotes used in this report come directly from the House floor record.
