Board of Education seeking 2 vetoes

The Utah Board of Education wants the governor to veto two bills, including one that could make high school students pay fees for college-credit classes, and has a suggestion for his special-session call.

The board voted Friday to ask Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to veto HB151, sponsored by Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem.

It also seeks a veto on Second Substitute HB172, regarding charter school building inspections. The board also will ask Huntsman to put a $3.5 million request to implement the state's U-PASS accountability system on his special-session call.

The board, however, could not muster enough votes to seek a veto on HB181, which would split $15 million between vouchers to help students pass the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test and a math improvement grant program tied to merit pay for teachers.

• HB151 would allow Utah colleges and universities to charge high school students taking concurrent enrollment classes up to $30 per college credit hour.

The State Board of Regents says state funds have not kept pace with costs of the growing program. Last year, more than 26,600 Utah students took more than 177,000 college credit hours through concurrent enrollment.

But the Legislature just gave $2.3 million to the program, eliminating the need for fees, the Board of Education contends.

"This is double dipping, and it's taking money out of the pockets of people in my district," board member Tim Beagley said.

But regents Bonnie Jean Beesley and Sara Sinclair, who are nonvoting members of the state school board, said colleges probably won't charge fees next year. They urged cooperation, and said Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner Rich Kendell has vowed to set aside money to guarantee low-income students access to concurrent enrollment.

But public school officials have said they must waive fees for students qualifying for free- or reduced-price school lunch anyway. Board member Teresa Theurer is more worried about the bill's effect on middle-income families.

The board garnered the minimum votes to seek the veto. It also voted to work with regents to put off any charges for a year, have a plan to help low-income students, and detail where fee money would go.

• HB172, sponsored by Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, aims to clarify roles for charter school building inspections to make the process less of a runaround for charter schools and city building officials.

In some cases, the state superintendent would issue inspection certificates, which Ferrin said already is part of superintendent duties, and could charge fees.

But the board felt such matters require expertise beyond education's purview and that injecting the superintendent into it "may tend to jump over the experts of cities and municipalities," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington said.

Ferrin was surprised at the veto request, noting the bill had overwhelming support in both houses. "It's not a change of existing policy; it is a clarification ... that frankly removes a whole lot of the potential for lawsuits."

---

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com