Educator License Amendments

School work limits with protections for educators

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah public schools face new limits on hiring and volunteers; disciplinary rules cover cases opened from that date. People barred from educator licenses for specified sexual offenses or sexual conduct with students cannot work or volunteer in public schools. For other license-ineligible people, bans depend on serious misconduct or written State Board findings of a specific safety risk. Serious misconduct includes child harm or credible risk, sexual misconduct, grooming, boundary violations, abuse, exploitation, violence, serious endangerment, or ongoing safety threats. Specified license revocations automatically bar paid work, unpaid work, and volunteering; serious-misconduct suspensions impose those bans while the suspension lasts. Other misconduct requires written findings explaining the specific risk and why lesser limits are insufficient. Technical violations require a repeated pattern showing disregard for licensing standards and those written findings—not a single error alone. Without a ban, non-licensed work or volunteering remains possible under school screening policies; schools can adopt stricter policies. Substitute teaching is barred for anyone ineligible for an educator license, or whose suspension or revocation carries these restrictions.