Title: HB 273 Classroom Technology Amendments
Date: October 9, 2026
To: K-12 Administrators, District Office Administrators
From: Sallie Warnecke, Supervisor of Digital Learning Holley McIntosh, STEM Director
Subject: SB 273 Implementation
Summary:
H.B. 273 establishes statewide requirements for balanced classroom technology use and artificial intelligence (AI) in Utah public schools. During the 2026-27 school year, the USBE will create a model policy outlining the allowable use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom. When the policy is completed, districts will review their current practices and create their own policies and administrative procedures to ensure compliance. No changes are required in our current school or classroom practices during the 2026-27 school year.
Information for 2026-27:
By December 1, 2026, the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) must post the state’s model policy for balanced technology use and AI in classrooms on their website. This will be the basis for the policies and administrative procedures developed by districts.
After the state model policy is published, districts will create their own policies and procedures that reflect the state model. The policies must be reviewed by the board in an open meeting with opportunities for public comment. The district policy must be adopted by July 1, 2027 for implementation in 2027-2028.
When the model policy is adopted, we will create a group to review the requirements and compare them to our current practices as we create our district policy and administrative procedures for implementation. We will then create school, teacher, and parent-facing information about changes to our current programs. More information will be forthcoming after the USBE has adopted the state policy.
At this time, no changes are required in schools or classrooms. The district has started some initial steps to prepare, such as:
- Inventorying our devices and software programs;
- Considering changes to the curriculum review and adoption process for future adoptions to ensure compliance;
- Creating a committee to review all software program requests;
- Auditing our current instructional technology, device distribution, internet filtering, student data privacy, and security to identify any areas that we will need to address in our district administrative procedures.
Questions:
- Dr. Tiffany Hall, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning
- Sam Quantz, Chief Information Officer
- Sallie Warnecke, Digital Teaching Supervisor
- Holley McIntosh, STEM Director
