HB 381 revises Utah’s public-school graduation and civics education requirements. It adds a new social studies graduation requirement of at least 3.5 units, including at least 1.0 unit in American constitutional government and citizenship beginning in the 2026-2027 school year. The bill directs the State Board of Education to create standards for that course, with emphasis on the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, federalism, the Bill of Rights, Reconstruction and voting-rights amendments, Utah’s Constitution, and other foundational primary sources. It also allows up to 0.5 units of the social studies requirement to be earned through a verbal-communication course or school-sponsored activity with a substantial civic-education component, or through JROTC participation.
The bill also updates ethnic studies requirements. It requires the state board to incorporate ethnic studies into core standards, consult with the Ethnic Studies Commission, and provide professional learning funding subject to appropriations. Local education agencies must select ethnic-studies curriculum and materials by December 31, 2027, align them with state standards, integrate them with regular schoolwork, and report compliance to the state board. The bill permits, but does not require, LEAs to offer a dedicated ethnic studies course. It also extends the deadline for ethnic-studies curriculum selection from 2025 to 2027.
HB 381 removes the requirement that public-school students pass a basic civics test to receive a high school diploma. The remaining civics-test requirement applies only to adult education students seeking an adult education secondary diploma, and the state board must still set rules for administering that test and allowing retakes. The bill also repeals the separate waiver provision tied to the former public-school civics-test graduation requirement. No money is appropriated, and the bill takes effect July 1, 2025.
The overall sentiment reflected in the voting history is strongly favorable and largely bipartisan. The bill passed the House and Senate with overwhelming support, including unanimous or near-unanimous committee votes and no floor opposition in either chamber. The lack of recorded committee transcript discussion limits insight into detailed debate, but the vote pattern suggests broad agreement with the bill’s civics-education emphasis and the removal of the public-school testing mandate.
The main points of potential contention are structural rather than partisan: the bill expands required civics instruction while eliminating a test-based graduation condition, and it formalizes ethnic studies integration into statewide standards and local curricula. Those changes could raise questions about curriculum content, implementation burden for LEAs, and the balance between state standards and local control. The inclusion of JROTC as an alternative pathway and the collaboration with Utah Valley University’s Civic Thought and Leadership Initiative may also be notable to observers concerned with how civics content is defined and delivered.
HB 381 amends Utah Code provisions governing core standards and graduation requirements, increasing the required social studies credit total and mandating a new American constitutional government and citizenship course standard. It changes the legal framework for civics education by eliminating the public-school basic civics test graduation requirement, while preserving that test for adult education diplomas. It also directs the State Board of Education to incorporate ethnic studies into core standards, establish related rules, and set reporting and curriculum-selection timelines for LEAs, thereby affecting state standards, local curriculum adoption, and teacher professional learning.
The bill appears to have enjoyed strong support throughout the legislative process. It received unanimous or near-unanimous committee recommendations in both chambers and passed floor votes without recorded opposition. The voting history suggests broad agreement on strengthening civics instruction and updating graduation requirements, with no visible organized resistance in the available materials.
The most likely areas of contention are the policy tradeoffs between requiring more civics instruction and removing the civics test, and the extent to which the state should prescribe ethnic studies content and implementation timelines for local school districts. Some stakeholders may favor the bill’s emphasis on constitutional history and primary-source instruction, while others may be more concerned about the ethnic studies mandate, curriculum integration requirements, or the reduced role of testing as a graduation benchmark. The bill’s allowance for JROTC and verbal-communication activities as partial substitutes for social studies credit may also draw attention from those debating equivalency and rigor.