Utah lawmakers are considering allowing voters to overturn local school board decisions, a move that education groups are warning could grind school district operations to a halt.
HB408 would allow residents to petition for a local referendum on any local school board action — unless board leaders passed it with a supermajority vote. This would apply to proposed school closures, property tax levies and decisions like changing a school mascot.
A referendum is a petition to let voters decide whether to keep or reject a law or policy that has already passed.
Bill sponsor Rep. Rex Shipp, R-Cedar City, explained that local school boards are “the only legislative body in our state” that aren’t subject to referendums.
“If something rises to the concern enough that the people want to refer it, I think they need to have that opportunity. And school boards ought to be included in that,” Shipp said during a House Government and Operations Committee hearing Feb. 19.
Referendums are not easy to get on ballots. Petitioners must gather a specific number of handwritten signatures, which is based on the number of active voters in a given jurisdiction. “Area requirements” may also apply, meaning signatures would need to be collected from a certain percentage of different areas rather than just one location.
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This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.