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Senate advances school-discipline bill expanding off-campus authority
Summary
The Utah Senate advanced House Bill 41, which expands school suspension and expulsion authority to some off-campus conduct and adds provisions covering look-alike weapons and alternative education. Sponsors said the measure aims to protect students after several high-profile incidents; the measure was moved toward third reading.
House Bill 41, carried in the Senate by Senator Katy Hall, would expand school districts’ authority to suspend or expel students for off-campus conduct that threatens school safety and to require continued educational services for removed students. Hall said the bill responds to recent local incidents and gaps in the code that let dangerous students return to campus without adequate supervision.
"This would stop that," Hall said while describing cases in which students who had been released to parental custody returned to the same school and continued to intimidate victims. She told colleagues the bill covers look-alike weapons, chemical-canister incidents and off-campus threats tied to school operations, and that it encourages alternative educational opportunities and parental cooperation.
Senators pressed Hall on operational details, including how districts would prove students had been notified of changes to conduct and discipline policies; Hall said districts typically secure signatures on notice and that local practice would be relied on for proof. The bill carries an amendment the sponsor described that makes implementation contingent on a two-thirds vote of the Senate and the governor’s signature.
Supporters including education associations and local superintendents were cited on the floor; opponents raised questions about procedural safeguards and proof of notice. The Senate called the question on reading HB 41 for third time and recorded the requisite roll-call result to advance the bill to the third-reading calendar for further action on the floor.
Next steps: The bill will return on third reading with the sponsor’s effective-date amendment and the anticipated votes to determine final passage or further amendment.
