High schools could reject open-enrollment students under a bill drawing little opposition so far at the Utah Legislature

An existing Utah law that lets children attend any public high school could be weakened by a bill that has earned the unanimous preliminary approval of the state Senate on Tuesday.

SB148, sponsored by Sen. Dan Hemmert, R-Orem, would give local school boards the ability to reject out-of-boundary students based on “maintenance of comprehensive programs and efficient allocation of resources.”

School boards can already restrict elementary enrollment to residents within neighborhood boundaries, Hemmert said, and loopholes exist for closing enrollment at the high-school level through class-size reduction efforts.

But under his bill, Hemmert said, school boards would have a clearer path to doing what they already can in order to “balance learning opportunities” between high-school campuses.

“The district can already do it,” Hemmert said, “they just have to go spend money to do it.”

The proposal is potentially at odds with Utah’s open-enrollment law, said Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan.

With open enrollment, Fillmore said, the state puts a priority on the needs and choice of parents over the needs of a particular school.

“What we’re saying [with SB148] is, ‘Parents, that’s true except if the district wants to protect its own stuff,’ ” Fillmore said. “At that point, your judgment becomes less important than the preservation of our programs.”

Hemmert agreed that “in theory,” his bill could allow for closed enrollment at Utah’s high schools. But SB148 is more focused on the allocation of school resources, he said.

“They can already shut down enrollment to out-of-area enrollees,” said Hemmert.

Utah senators, including Fillmore, voted 19-0 in favor of the bill on Tuesday. An additional Senate vote is required before the bill can move to the House for consideration.

SB148 was similarly well-received in the Senate Education Committee earlier this month, with members of that panel voting 3-0 to recommend it after only minimal debate.