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The Utah House endorsed the idea Wednesday that if severely disabled students stay in high school longer than four years, that should not hurt the grades given to their school by the state.
HB292 passed on a 69-0 vote on its way to the Senate.
Its sponsor, Rep. Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, said some of her constituents complained their high schools were hurt in state grading because their official graduation rates were lowered because of disabled students staying in high school longer than four years.
Her bill exempts including those students in calculations.
"This is a right those students are given through their individualized-education program," she said. "They are students who have very severe disabilities. These are not students who have a mild disability.... They need significant assistance."