Utah
Utah lawmakers OK bill requiring parental permission for ‘non-academic’ school surveys
The Utah Legislature has passed a bill to require schools to get parental consent before giving students any “non-academic” surveys. It also allows school districts to opt out of administering a statewide student health and risk prevention survey without risking funding.
There are concerns, however, from groups that use the data, including local health departments and those who work in prevention programming.
Among other things, the bill targets surveys that ask about a student’s or their family’s mental or psychological problems, sexual behavior, gender identity, political affiliations and illegal behavior. While some of these surveys did previously require parental consent, like the Utah Student Health and Risk Prevention survey, others were “opt-out” – meaning schools would give the survey to all students unless a parent said otherwise.
Republican Rep. Karianne Lisonbee told the House Education Committee she created this bill because of concerns she heard from parents and teachers who said the surveys were taking up valuable instruction time.
Lisonbee did not respond to KUER’s request for comment.
Her bill requires that schools obtain written consent annually from parents in order to give out these kinds of surveys. It also adds that schools can’t reward or give students consequences for participating or not.
Parents and parents-rights advocates who testified in support of the bill brought up privacy concerns and said some parents weren’t aware of what was in these surveys. Some also claimed they were not age-appropriate and that by asking about drugs or alcohol, the surveys were putting ideas into students’ heads.
Some parents specifically mentioned concerns with the Utah Student Health and Risk Prevention survey which is given to students in grades six, eight, 10 and 12. It asks about substance use, social and emotional health, and physical safety. Previously, school districts had to administer this survey to get grant funds for drug prevention programs, but Lisonbee’s bill has done away with that provision.
Carolyn Sharette, the executive director of American Preparatory Academy charter schools, testified in support of the bill. She said this bill respects that parents have the “primary role” in their children’s lives.
Sharette said American Preparatory Academy is against surveying minor children and that they requested a waiver last year so that they wouldn’t have to administer an anonymous, optional School Climate Survey to their students. Under the bill, schools no longer have to administer the model climate survey that the Utah State Board of Education created.
There have been similar efforts in other states to require parental permission on all surveys, rather than only allowing parents to “opt-out.”
This is one of the bills the Utah Association of Local Health Departments has listed as being concerned about.
Mara Hammer with Layton Communities that Care — a coalition of groups under the direction of the Davis County Health Department — told the House Education Committee the survey data is vital to their work. The organization’s website says it focuses on preventing substance use and improving mental health for youth.
Hammer said they use the data to run “evidence-based programs” and to know the best preventive measures to focus on.
“Without evidence, how can you run an evidence-based program?” she said.
Democratic Rep. Angela Romero echoed those concerns during the committee meeting. She said this data is important to her because she works with youth and prevention programming in Salt Lake City. “We need to know what’s going on in our community,” she said, in order to provide effective services.
The Utah Education Association and the Utah State Board of Education did not take a stance on the bill. The Joint Legislative Committee run by the Utah School Board Association and Utah School Superintendents Association opposed it because they think districts should get to decide whether surveys should be opt-in or opt-out.
The bill needs the signature of Gov. Spencer Cox to become law.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — One person was hospitalized at the St. George Regional Hospital after a car rolled and caught fire just south of the Utah-Arizona border.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department in Arizona said its crews responded to the crash near the Black Rock Road exit – roughly two miles south of the state border – on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, crews put out the car fire and found the driver had left the scene. A single occupant, who was able to get out of the car on their own, was transported to the hospital by a Beaver Dam ambulance.
MORE | Crashes
Their condition has not been publicly released.
Details on what led to the crash and the condition of the driver were not immediately available.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department said law enforcement investigated the scene.
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
The Utah Jazz are rolling into a big offseason before they into what’s projected to be a wildly different-looking 2026-27 campaign from what they had just seen this past 22-win season.
But before that season is able to get underway, the Jazz have some priorities to address in the offseason––both in terms of constructing their roster and retaining a few key pieces from last year’s group into next year.
That makes their salary cap situation and everything around it important to be aware of in the next few months. So with that in mind, we’ve put together an offseason cap tracker for a glimpse of what the Jazz are dealing with in terms of cap space, contracts, and any of their own free agents hitting the open market.
Let’s break it down:
Maximum Possible Cap Space: $24.7M
The Jazz are currently projected at just under $25 million in cap headed into the summer. That’s without any additional moves made to the roster from how they’re entering the offseason, and without factoring in any free agents’ pending cap holds.
That number is bound to get smaller once the Jazz hash out their contract situation for Walker Kessler, but it could also see an uptick if Utah were to shed salary with some of their non-guaranteed deals, or any other player they wanted to pivot from.
As of now, it allows the Jazz to make a couple of moves around the edges in free agency, but the main focus will lean on signing Kessler to a long-term deal.
Contracts
A glimpse of the Jazz’s contract values for the 2026-27 season, and when they’re slated to hit free agency from their current deals:
– Jaren Jackson Jr.: $49.0M, ’29 PO
– Lauri Markkanen: $46.1M, ’29 UFA
– Ace Bailey: $9.5M, ’29 RFA
– Keyonte George: $6.5M, ’27 RFA
– John Konchar: $6.1M, ’27 UFA
– Cody Williams: $6.0M, ’28 RFA
– Brice Sensabaugh, $4.8M, ’27 RFA
– Svi Mykhailiuk: $3.8M*, ’28 UFA
– Kyle Filipowski: $3.0M, ’28 RFA
– Isaiah Collier: $2.7M, ’28 RFA
– Hayden Gray: $2.1M*, ’27 RFA
– Bez Mbeng: $2.1M*, ’27 RFA
– Blake Hinson (two-way), ’27 RFA
Total: $142.1M
*- non-guaranteed
The biggest chunk of the Jazz’s salary leans on their top two veterans, Markkanen and Jackson Jr., each making a combined $95 million next season alone.
However, the rest of the roster isn’t taking up much money. No one else will be making more than $10 million, and their payroll is a little less than $150 million in total.
Another noteworthy fact: the Jazz’s key roster pieces outside of George and Sensabaugh are all under contract through the next two seasons.
Both of the aforementioned names are also bound to see extension discussions take place this summer, which might lock in their future for even longer.
Free Agents
A look at who from this season’s roster is set to hit the free agent market in July:
– Kevin Love (UFA)
– Jusuf Nurkic (UFA)
– Walker Kessler (RFA)
– Oscar Tshiebwe (two-way)
– Elijah Harkless (two-way)
The biggest name of note is, of course, the Jazz’s restricted free agent big man, Walker Kessler, who Utah is bound to hand a big payday, but it remains to be seen how much that contract––or offer sheet from another team––will be.
Jusuf Nurkic and Kevin Love have also expressed their desire to return to the roster as they hit free agency. Re-signing both likely wouldn’t cost much for the Jazz financially, but instead relies on a question of whether the roster space is readily available to keep both.
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