Advancing bill gives Utah grandkids an edge in charter enrollment

Children whose grandparents devote time and money to launching a new charter school would go to the front of the enrollment line under a bill now moving to the full Senate.

HB36, proposed by Rep. David Lifferth, R-Eagle Mountain, was recommended Thursday by the Senate Education Committee. It has already passed the House.

The bill tweaks existing law, which gives children whose parents are founders or on an operating board the right to attend the charter school without going through a lottery. Charter schools often have waiting lists, and use a lottery to decide which children to admit.

Lifferth said grandparents are more involved in children's lives than in the past, and often are raising their grandchildren.

"We see a lot of grandparents in our charter schools," said Craig Frank, a member of the board of Utah Charter Network and a former state representative.

Kristen Moulton