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Bill Summary · HB 528

Overview

HB 528 (Utah, 2026) requires school districts to report specific open enrollment data to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), and directs USBE to publish that data along with contact information for each district’s open enrollment staff. The bill takes effect November 30, 2026 and includes a provision for a special effective date.

Purpose and intent

  • Increase transparency around open enrollment by mandating districts to collect and share open enrollment statistics.
  • Enable the state to publish comparable data across schools and districts, facilitating oversight and analysis of open enrollment dynamics.

Key provisions and changes

  • District reporting requirements (Section 53G-6-403):
    • Local school boards must adopt policies governing acceptance and rejection of open enrollment applications (as already required by existing law).
    • Policies may consider capacity, program availability, student diversity, special programs needs, class size concerns, and district policies.
    • Prohibits using certain factors for denial (e.g., prior academic achievement, athletic ability, English language proficiency, prior disciplinary history, etc.), with specific exceptions for serious infractions or chronic misbehavior; provisional enrollment may be allowed under certain conditions.
    • Establishes standards for nonresident student participation in interscholastic activities in coordination with USBE and Utah High School Activities Association.
    • Open enrollment data reporting: For each school, districts must annually report to USBE the following:
    • Maximum capacity and adjusted capacity of the school
    • Projected enrollment used in open enrollment calculations
    • Actual enrollments on specific dates (October 1; January 2/December 1/June 30, depending on the date system)
    • Number of nonresident enrollment requests
    • Number of nonresident enrollment requests accepted
    • Number of resident students transferring to another school
    • Name and contact information for the district’s open enrollment staff
    • Districts must post this information on their websites.
  • State board reporting requirements:
    • USBE must annually publish on its website:
    • For each school: the data described above, plus the open enrollment rate (nonresident students enrolled divided by total students enrolled)
    • For each district: aggregated data corresponding to the per-school data
    • USBE must publish the open enrollment staff contact information for each district on its site.

Who is affected

  • Local school districts and their open enrollment offices/staff (data collection, reporting, and website posting duties).
  • Utah State Board of Education (data aggregation, annual publication, and maintaining a public-facing portal with contact information).
  • Public school students, including nonresident students seeking enrollment outside their residence district, and residents transferring between schools (data will reflect enrollment patterns and access).

Timeline and procedural notes

  • Effective date: November 30, 2026.
  • Data reporting cadence: Annually (as part of the school year reporting requirements); specifics align with the reporting calendar already used for enrollment and capacity metrics.
  • The bill creates a new reporting program element that will require one-time and potentially ongoing costs to districts and a modest one-time cost to USBE for implementation (as outlined in the fiscal note).

Fiscal and administrative impact (as described in supporting materials)

  • State Board of Education: Potential one-time cost of approximately $18,000 (from the Income Tax Fund) in FY 2027 to implement open enrollment data reporting.
  • Local education agencies (LEAs): Possible increased costs associated with collecting and reporting the required data; exact amounts vary by district depending on data systems and capabilities.
  • Overall state revenue: No anticipated direct impact.
  • Regulatory burden: Likely minimal changes beyond implementing the new reporting requirements.

Summary

HB 528 aims to improve transparency and consistency around open enrollment by mandating district reporting to USBE and requiring public publication of both district- and school-level open enrollment data and staff contacts. It preserves district discretion in enrollment decision criteria (within the listed permissible standards) and ensures nonresident student participation in interscholastic activities is governed by state guidelines. The measure includes a targeted fiscal note for implementation and sets a November 2026 start date.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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