By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
As major school improvement projects continue to develop across the state – especially with athletic facilities – a new bill introduced to the Utah State Legislature aims to provide rural schools with more funding to engage in these projects.
HB462 aims to change how these athletic facilities can be funded by creating the Rural School Sports Facilities Grant Program. This program would benefit counties in the fourth, fifth or sixth classification. These groups make up 17 of the 29 counties in Utah.
The bill defines a sports facility as,” an indoor or outdoor facility primarily designed and used for athletic activities, physical education, or school-sponsored sports programs.”
The bill is being sponsored by Rep. Tiara Auxier (R-Morgan), who was thrust into the legislative position following the departure of former Rep. Kera Birkeland.
Speaking to Castle Country Radio, Auxier explained what inspired her to pursue this piece of legislation,” a mother from my district brought to our attention that there was a tree root growing through the track at their High School. It made me think of the stark differences that we see in the school facilities, especially the school athletic facilities we see in rural schools compared to their non-rural counterparts. This is not an isolated situation. I think many of us from rural areas can see similar things in our own local schools.”
If fully funded, HB462 would create a $5 million program to issue grants to aid in funding these projects with a cap of $500,000 per project. “The funding for rural schools has always been complicated and never enough for what they actually need; in all areas,” said Auxier,” This bill will be an important step forward in recognizing and providing for these needs.”
In order to receive these funds, school districts would need to” identify an eligible school within the school district that wishes to receive program funds; (ii) evidence the need for construction or refurbishment of a sports facility; (iii) describe the proposed sports facility project; and (iv) estimate a budget and timeline for the completion of the sports facility project.”
“We’ve seen in rural areas, a high percentage of children participate in their school sports because in some areas, it is the only option and there aren’t a lot of other opportunities,” shared the representative,” I’m looking forward to how much our rural communities will be able to benefit from having safe and updated athletic facilities.”
*Photo Courtesy of the Utah House of Represntatives