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The Policy Project advocates for student-focused bills at Washington Terrace event

By Ryan Aston - | Jan 31, 2025
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Attendees of a Washington Terrace event hosted by The Policy Project to raise support for HB 100 and SB 178 write postcards to their legislators on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.
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Rich Nye, the governor's senior advisor of education, attends The Policy Project's event to raise support for HB 100 and SB 178 in Washington Terrace on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.
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Attendees at an event hosted by The Policy Project in Washington Terrace to raise supporter HB 100 and SB 178 assembled pantry packs for those in need.
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Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz attends The Policy Project's event to raise support for HB 100 and SB 178 in Washington Terrace on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.

WASHINGTON TERRACE — State leaders and community members converged upon Bonneville High School on Wednesday night as The Policy Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization promoting “solution-based policies” removing barriers to opportunity, hosted a “service and advocacy” event to raise support for a pair of bills.

Dubbed “The Focused Student Project,” the Policy Project’s dual-pronged legislative initiative seeks to address student hunger and cellphone usage in the classroom.

House Bill 100, or the “Food Security Amendments,” sponsored by Rep. Tyler Clancy (R-Provo), would establish a program to provide free breakfast and lunch to students who qualify for reduced-fee meals.

Additionally, it would prevent schools from “publicly identifying or stigmatizing students” who can’t afford the meals or requiring them “to perform chores to pay for a meal unless the requirement applies equally to all students regardless of whether the student pays for the meal.”

Rich Nye, the governor’s education advisor, spoke in support of the bill at Wednesday’s event.

“A family of four that qualifies for reduced fee makes less than $57,720 a year. So, some at-risk, low-income realities,” Nye said. “What we have found — and I’ll put the hat of superintendent back on — is that we’ve had a lot of families who are making that amount and struggle trying to even pay that reduced fee amount so their children can have meals.”

HB 100 currently sits with the House Rules Committee.

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 178, sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore (R-South Jordan), would effectively ban students from using cellphones, smart watches or other “emerging technology” during classroom hours, save for school-wide emergencies and a handful of other exceptions.

The bill defines “classroom hours” as not including lunch periods, recess, time between classes and after-school activities. It also allows schools to create other exemptions or extend restrictions.

House Speaker Mike Schultz (R-Hooper) told attendees Wednesday that SB 178 works to improve students’ educational experience while preserving a measure of policy control at the district/school/classroom levels.

“Education is not a one-size-fits-all program, right? Schools, areas, districts, different classrooms, different things that are going on are not one-size-fits-all,” Schultz said. “What the bill does is it allows for school districts to be able to make policies different, that best fits what they need inside their classrooms.”

SB 178 currently sits with the Senate Education Committee.

In addition to hearing information from elected officials, bill advocates and Policy Project leadership, attendees at Bonneville participated in activities including writing postcards for their legislators in their districts.

They also assembled meal bundles for local kids and families; some 400 pantry packs were assembled.

For more information, go to https://www.thepolicyproject.org/.

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