AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.

This bill makes a range of updates to Utah's public education laws affecting oversight, funding, and administrative procedures. It renames the Catalyst Center Grant Program to the Applied Professional Education Experience (APEX) Grant Program, updates the criteria and reporting requirements LEAs must meet to receive funding for career- and workforce-focused learning centers, and directs at least $100 million toward that program from the Public Education Economic Stabilization Restricted Account. The bill also shifts oversight of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind so that the state superintendent, with State Board approval, appoints and supervises that school's superintendent, and it allows that school to coordinate with the state security chief rather than county security officials for safety needs assessments. Additionally, the bill expands paraprofessionals' supported clinical experience under the Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline Program from one semester to four, extends juvenile justice reintegration and school safety requirements to all local education agencies rather than just school districts, and allows the State Board to reduce suicide prevention grant amounts when full funding isn't available.