YOU MIGHT be thinking that a Town Hall is a building in Clash of Clans, but it is also an important meeting to discuss local issues with legislators. On Wednesday, December 13, there was a town hall meeting at American Preparatory Academy to discuss issues regarding education.
The meeting was attended by four Utah State House Representatives, one Utah State Senator, and one member of the Utah State School Board. Three main issues were discussed at this meeting: sensitive materials in schools, the Utah Fits All scholarship, and school safety.
The issue of sensitive materials in schools was brought up by a parent who sits on the committee that reviews challenged school library books. While not all legislators agreed on what defines sensitive materials, everyone seemed to agree that books in schools should be age appropriate. One legislator mentioned a new proposed bill that would remove a book in every school in Utah if three or more schools concluded the book contained sensitive material and should be removed. The legislators had mixed feelings about the bill and its potential effect on Utah schools.
Another parent asked the legislators about the Utah Fits All scholarship. The scholarship provides $8,000 per year to cover private school tuition, tutoring, education programs, curriculum, etc. Rep. Tim Jimenez (R- Tooele, District 28), who homeschools his children, talked highly of the scholarship and how it can help homeschooling families. Rep. Angela Romero (D- Salt Lake, District 25) spoke of her concerns of the scholarship taking money away from the public school system.
The most discussed topic was school safety. Hunter High has had metal detectors installed, and some parents complained about their students feeling like criminals having to walk through metal detectors each day.
The senator and one representative agreed that students feeling like criminals is an issue that needs to be addressed. The other representatives felt that student’s safety at school outweighs any negative feelings.
Jimenez brought up a new bill dealing with school safety that will be discussed in the upcoming legislative session. The bill, if passed, will allow teachers and school staff to receive training in how to protect students in any violent incident. The senator and one representative seemed to oppose the proposed bill, citing concerns for teacher safety while trying to protect students. Representative Jimenez (who has awesome hair, btw) assured his colleagues and the audience that the bill would address those concerns.
While the turnout seemed kind of small, the town hall meeting seemed to be successful and informative. Although the invitation to the town hall meeting went out to the entire area, only four parents, two students, and two school officials attended the meeting. Most of the attendees were satisfied that the issues they were concerned about were properly addressed by the legislators, but at least one parent was not. The advice given to that parent was to stay involved in schools, stay involved in local elections, and to elect good people.
