PROVIDENCE – The Utah Legislature recently passed some legislation concerning micro schools, indicating that they were going to happen in the state of Utah.
Locally, Providence City is probably further along than other communities in preparation for this.
On KVNU’s For the People program on Wednesday, Providence Mayor Kathleen Alder and over Providence code, Skarlet Bankhead, were our guests. Bankhead said there are actually two types of micro schools that are being talked about.
“One of them is a home-based micro school, and that’s an individual or an association of individuals that register as a business entity in accordance with state and local laws. So, they do have to put some thought into this, they have to register with the state and then, we require a business license, so they’ll have to get a business license from us. And then, for compensation they provide Kindergarten through Grade 12 education services to 16 or fewer students from an individual’s residence, accessory dwelling unit or residential property,” she said.
Bankhead said a home-based micro school is not daycare.
“The other part is called a Micro Education Entity,” Bankhead explained, “and that is a person or an association of persons that register as a business entity, again, in accordance with the state and local laws. And then for compensation they provide Kindergarten through Grade 12 education services to 100 students or fewer. So, there’s a big difference there.”
She said they would have a school-type or office-type building as well.
Alder said they have put things into place that will work for both kinds of micro-schools should applications come in.