House agrees to front up to $500,000 so nine districts can continue online assessment pilot

Representative Scott Throckmorton offered amendment number 1 to the budget bill to allow the state to front up to $500,000 so nine school districts (including Ogden, Davis, Salt Lake, Murray, Granite, Jordan, Provo, Nebo and Emery) could continue an online assessment pilot this fall while a federal grant is finalized in Washington.

Throckmorton said the federal grant has been applied for and is expected to be approved; fronting a smaller portion of the money allows the pilot to proceed this school year rather than waiting until federal funds arrive. “All we’re doing is allowing these 9 school districts to continue this pilot program this fall as opposed to waiting for next winter,” Throckmorton said, adding that the federal grant will reimburse the state.

Opponents questioned whether the state should front money for a new pilot when other pilot programs and special projects had been cut earlier in the session. Representative Lockhart offered a parent’s perspective describing the program’s classroom benefit: her daughter’s school used the pilot and teachers received assessment results quickly, allowing school staff to act sooner on learning gaps.

After debate and questions about fiscal risk, the House adopted the amendment by more than the two-thirds margin required to suspend rules and apply the change that allows short-term fronting of federal grant money for the pilot.

Why it matters: The amendment expedites a technology pilot that school sponsors said yields near-immediate assessment results for teachers and students. Supporters said the state would be reimbursed by the federal grant; opponents warned about the precedent of fronting state funds when other programs have been cut.

The transcript records the amendment’s adoption and that it was intended to be a one-year, prorated fronting until federal reimbursement arrived.