53G-9-210.  Requirement for in-person instruction — Test to stay programs — Face coverings.

(1)  As used in this section:

Terms Used In Utah Code 53G-9-210

(a)  “Case threshold” means as applicable, the number of students in a school, or percentage of students in a school who meet the conditions described in Subsection (3).

(b)  “COVID-19” means:

(i)  severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; or

(ii)  the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

(c)  “Estimated incubation period” means a period of time that the Department of Health and Human Services identifies as the number of days between exposure and symptom onset for a given variant of COVID-19.

(d)  “Extracurricular activity” means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-7-501.

(e)  “Face covering” means a mask, shield, or other device that is intended to be worn in a manner to cover the mouth, nose, or face to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

(f)  “In-person instruction” means instruction offered by a school that allows a student to choose to attend school in-person at least four days per week if the student:

(i)  is enrolled in a school that is not implementing a test to stay program; or

(ii) 

(A)  is enrolled in a school that is implementing a test to stay program; and

(B)  meets the test to stay program’s criteria for attending school in person.

(g)  “Local Education Agency” or LEA means:

(i)  a school district;

(ii)  a charter school, other than an online-only charter school; or

(iii)  the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

(h)  “School” means a school other than an online-only charter school or an online-only public school.

(i)  “Remote learning” means learning that occurs through technology that provides synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences that maximize student learning and instructional time.

(j)  “Test to stay program” means a program through which an LEA provides testing for COVID-19 for students during an outbreak of COVID-19 at a school in order to:

(i)  identify cases of COVID-19; and

(ii)  allow individuals to attend school in person who:

(A)  test negative for COVID-19 during the test to stay program; or

(B)  are cleared to return to school after the estimated incubation period.

(2) 

(a)  An LEA shall:

(i)  except as provided in Subsection (2)(b), beginning on March 22, 2021, ensure that a school offers in-person instruction; and

(ii)  if the determination described in Subsection (2)(c) has been made, require a school that reaches the case threshold to:

(A)  fulfill the requirement described in Subsection (2)(a)(i) by initiating a test to stay program for the school; and

(B)  provide a remote learning option for students who do not wish to attend in person.

(b)  Beginning January 31, 2022, the requirement to provide in-person instruction described in Subsection (2)(a) does not apply for a temporary period of remote learning within an LEA or a given school within an LEA if:

(i)  the COVID-19 case rates within one or more schools within the LEA have surpassed the case threshold;

(ii)  the local governing board requests application of the exception by delivering to the governor, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the state superintendent of public instruction a letter that details:

(A)  information regarding the case threshold requirement described in Subsection (2)(b)(i);

(B)  the local governing board’s assessment that due to public health emergency circumstances within the LEA or given school, the risks related to in-person instruction temporarily outweigh the value of in-person instruction;

(C)  a public meeting of the local governing board in which the board voted to request the exception described in this Subsection (2)(b);

(D)  a specific and temporary period of time for which the local governing board seeks a pivot to remote learning within the LEA or given school; and

(E)  the measures the local governing board will implement for the LEA or given school to return to in-person learning following the identified temporary remote learning period; and

(iii)  the governor, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the state superintendent of public instruction jointly confer and approve, or approve with modifications, the request described in Subsection (2)(b)(i).

(c)  The requirement to initiate a test to stay program described in Subsection (2)(a)(ii) only applies if, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, the governor, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the state superintendent of public instruction jointly determine that a variant of COVID-19 currently affecting the public education system is of a type that testing and isolation under a test to stay program would be effective in mitigating the harmful public health effects of the variant.

(3) 

(a)  For purposes of determining whether a school has reached the school’s case threshold, a student is included in positive cases for the school if the student:

(i)  within the preceding number of days equal to the estimated incubation period:

(A)  attended at least some in-person instruction at the school; and

(B)  tested positive for COVID-19; and

(ii)  did not receive the student’s positive COVID-19 test results through regular periodic testing required to participate in LEA-sponsored athletics or another LEA-sponsored extracurricular activity.

(b) 

(i)  A school with 1,500 or more students meets the case threshold if at least 2% of the school’s students meet the conditions described in Subsection (3)(a).

(ii)  A school with fewer than 1,500 students meets the case threshold if 30 or more of the school’s students meet the conditions described in Subsection (3)(a).

(4) 

(a)  An LEA may not test a student for COVID-19 who is younger than 18 years old without the consent of the student’s parent.

(b)  An LEA may seek advance consent from a student’s parent for future testing for COVID-19.

(5)  An LEA, an LEA governing board, the state board, the state superintendent, or a school may not require an individual to wear a face covering to attend or participate in in-person instruction, LEA-sponsored athletics, or another LEA-sponsored extracurricular activity, or in any other place on the campus of a school or school facility after the end of the 2020-2021 school year.

Amended by Chapter 5, 2022 General Session

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