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Better Utah Bill Tracker
2026 Interim Session

S.B. 2

Signed into Law

Public Education Budget Amendments

Rep. Stephen L. Whyte
Sen. Heidi Balderree
View on le.utah.gov
S.B. 2Signed into Law

Public Education Budget Amendments

Senate
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House
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Governor

What This Bill Does

This bill supplements or reduces appropriations otherwise provided for the support and operation of public education for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026, and appropriates funds for the support and operation of public education for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027.

Key Provisions

This bill:

  • defines terms;
  • repeals the Digital Teaching and Learning Grant Program and an associated reporting requirement;
  • creates reporting requirements regarding:
    • the state superintendent transferring money appropriated to the Minimum School Program; and
    • student personnel and data standards for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind;
  • requires the State Board of Education (state board) to establish certain student and personnel data standards for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind;
  • enacts provisions related to:
    • weighted pupil units for college and career counseling;
    • the calculation of educator salary adjustments;
    • the state board's distribution of public education mental health screening funds; and
    • a scholarship student's use of funds under the Utah Private Course Choice Empowerment Program;
  • creates a repeal date for:
    • the Personalized, Competency-based Learning Grants Program; and
    • small school student access to online courses;
  • allows the state superintendent to transfer certain money related to state board line items;
  • provides appropriations for the use and support of school districts, charter schools, and state education agencies;
  • creates a new College and Career Counseling program by transferring funding and weighted pupil units from the Career & Technical Education - Add-on program;
  • increases weighted pupil units for the Students At-Risk WPU Add-on program;
  • provides appropriations for other purposes as described;
  • makes technical and conforming changes; and
  • provides intent language.

Plain-Language Summary

AI-generated summary. We recommend consulting the bill text for important decisions.

Utah's public education budget bill for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 makes a wide range of funding and policy changes affecting school districts, charter schools, and state education agencies. It appropriates roughly $79.6 million in adjustments for FY2026 and $124 million for FY2027, while also cutting funding for several programs, including eliminating the Digital Teaching and Learning Grant Program (which had provided over $18 million annually) and reducing educator salary adjustments and the salary supplement for highly needed educators. The bill creates a new College and Career Counseling program by redirecting weighted pupil units — the funding formula units schools use to receive state money — away from the Career and Technical Education add-on program, and increases weighted pupil units for at-risk students. It also changes how educator salary adjustments grow over time by capping annual increases at the lower of either the WPU value increase or the Consumer Price Index, effectively limiting how quickly teacher bonus pay can grow. Additional changes include setting sunset dates for the Personalized Competency-based Learning Grants Program and small school online course access, removing the salary supplement and reimbursement programs for National Board-certified teachers, and requiring beginning in July 2027 that private school students who also receive Utah Fits All Scholarships use those scholarship funds to pay for courses under the Private Course Choice Empowerment Program rather than accessing them at no cost.