When the Utah State Legislature passed HB61 during the 2023 legislative session, the bill was intended to protect against school threats. The School Security Act went into effect in May 2023 and requires every school in Utah to have an armed guard on-site during school hours. 

While there’s no deadline to have armed guards in place at this time, every district must submit a school safety needs assessment by the end of this year that includes guideline policies, site security plans and personnel information.

Matt Pennington was appointed Director of State Security in January 2024 in response to HB61. Pennington has a background in law enforcement, serving in Weber County and South Jordan before accepting his current position. 

“Because [schools are] on a clock, we’ve said that if they used something last year that was accepted by the School Safety Center, we would accept that again this year,” he said. “Then the plan would be, moving forward, we will create our own assessment for Utah and by this time next year we will have that tool out.”

Granite School District is one of the biggest districts in the state. With more than 61,000 students, 5,000 educators and support staff, and nearly 90 schools, the District is working with the Utah State Board of Education and the Security Task Force to finalize its compliance plan. 

“There have been multiple discussions with the school board, with our chief of police and emergency management department, to try and figure out what will be best for Granite and our schools,” said GSD Spokesperson Andrea Stringham. “We’re going to be in compliance with whatever the State tells us to do. We’re kind of already doing this.”

GSD is unique in that it operates the Granite Police Department and posts student resource officers in each high school. It also partners with allied agencies to have officers in junior high schools and a rotation of officers in elementary schools. 

Stringham said the biggest impact will be the cost of implementing the program. While the school guardian position is voluntary, she said the estimated cost between payroll, training and equipment could be as high as $10 million dollars a year. Lawmakers have allocated a one-time $500 stipend per guardian.

Pennington said the Guardian Program is one of the most misunderstood concepts of the legislation. Districts can choose from three different scenarios when it comes to providing armed guards at schools. 

First, districts can hire guards to be on-site during school hours. Second, districts can partner with a police agency for school resource officers or have someone from their own police department serve as a guardian. Third, districts can train a current school employee, who has been approved by the State Security Office. School teachers and principals cannot be assigned as Guardians due to their responsibilities in the case of a school emergency. 

“Ultimately, it’s not about the money because there’s no amount of money to pay them that’s going to compensate them for risking their life,” Pennington said. “So the stipends can help purchase additional equipment or an upgrade to their firearm or training or a thank you for their willingness to do this…That’s a big misconception, that we’re hiring people for $500. That’s not true.”

The legislation is based on similar laws in Texas and Florida, which were put in place after deadly school shootings. Pennington hopes the School Security Act can stave off potential tragedies in Utah schools. 

“Our state is the first state to pass this comprehensive school safety bill without having an incident first,” Pennington said. “Our hope is that continues.”

In the meantime, GSD officials are deciding the best plan to implement the new law while continuing to fund education for thousands of students. 

“We don’t have a firm plan yet,” Stringham said. “We’re in a lot of discussions and we’re looking at a lot of different options. Once we get the final guidance, then we’ll be able to say, this is exactly what we’re going to do and this is the exact cost. Right now, it’s all up in the air and we have to wait and see.” λ