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H.B. 197

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School Materials Amendments

HB0197S04 (Substitute)

View on le.utah.gov
H.B. 197FailedOppose

School Materials Amendments

House
Senate
Governor

What This Bill Does

This bill amends provisions regarding the accessibility of sensitive material through digital instructional material in a school setting.

Key Provisions

This bill:

  • defines a term;
  • prohibits a Local Education Agency (LEA) from providing certain materials to students that have been removed statewide;
  • requires an LEA to review instructional material an LEA adds to the LEA's collection of instructional material;
  • enacts certain prohibitions on a vendor of digital instructional material; and
  • makes technical and conforming changes.

Better Utah Institute's Position

OpposeStrong Communities

Plain-Language Summary

AI-generated summary, reviewed by Better Utah staff.

Utah's existing school "sensitive materials" law gets several new additions under this bill: school districts and charter schools must now review any instructional material before adding it to their collections to confirm it doesn't contain sensitive material (defined as pornographic or indecent content under state law); any school that has had a material removed through the statewide threshold process is permanently prohibited from making that material available to students again; and companies that provide digital instructional materials to schools are barred from using those materials to sell or advertise goods and services to students. The bill also adds formal definitions for "contracting entity," "UETN," and "vendor" to clarify who these rules apply to.