DAR File No. 29038

Education, Administration

R277-419

Pupil Accounting

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE

DAR File No.: 29038
Filed: 09/15/2006, 05:22
Received by: NL

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

This rule is amended to address the growing number of nontraditional methods of instructional delivery, to address new accounting procedures for Youth in Custody and Career and Technical Education (CTE) students, and to clarify other public accounting issues.

Summary of the rule or change:

The amendment provides changes to existing definitions and new definitions; provides new eligibility standards for funding students, provides funding for electronic high school students, and explains the student identification and tracking system.

State statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

Subsections 53A-1-401(3) and 53A-1-402(1)(e)

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

There are no known costs or savings to the state budget. There may be costs as the Utah State Office of Education develops the student tracking system and there may be savings as the accounting system requires more consistent student data from school districts.

local governments:

School districts may receive additional funds for students in nontraditional instructional settings. These savings are speculative at this point.

other persons:

There are no anticipated costs or savings to other persons. The Utah State Office of Education and school districts are the only entities responsible for implementation of this rule.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

There are no compliance costs for affected persons. The Utah State Office of Education and school districts are the only entities responsible for implementation of this rule.

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

I have reviewed this rule and I see no fiscal impact on businesses. Patti Harrington, State Superintendent of Public Instruction

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Division of Administrative Rules, or at:

Education
Administration
250 E 500 S
SALT LAKE CITY UT 84111-3272

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

Carol Lear at the above address, by phone at 801-538-7835, by FAX at 801-538-7768, or by Internet E-mail at carol.lear@schools.utah.gov

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

10/31/2006

This rule may become effective on:

11/08/2006

Authorized by:

Carol Lear, Director, School Law and Legislation

R277. Education, Administration.

R277-419. Pupil Accounting.

R277-419-1. Definitions.

[A. "Add-on WPU" means additional weighted pupil units earned in accordance with the Minimum School Program Act, 53A-17a-104 in the areas of special education, applied technology education, adult education, youth-in-custody, and necessarily existent small schools.

B. "Adult education" means organized public educational programs, other than regular full-time and summer elementary and secondary day school, which provide opportunities for adult and out-of-school youth who have not graduated, to further their education.

C]A. "Aggregate[ Days of] Membership" means the sum of all days [of]in membership [of all students ]during a school year for the student, program, school, LEA, or state.

[D. "Alternative High School" means a non-standard high school for students with special needs, interests, or learning styles, which meets all of the following criteria:

(1) the local school has been officially designated as a high school by the local board of education;

(2) a principal and staff are assigned to the school as a primary assignment;

(3) extra costs are associated with the school such as counseling staff, library, and other support costs;

(4) an approved applied technology education program is operated at the school;

(5) the school is primarily for youth in continuous education who have not graduated from high school but are working toward graduation. Its programs qualify students as candidates for graduation.

E]B. "Board" means the Utah State Board of Education.

[F. "Continuous education" means regular full-time and summer day school programs outlined by the Board for the purpose of students completing the education process.

G. "Dropout" means an individual in grades 7-12 who leaves a public school or a district or state approved school program and is not re-enrolled in or transferred to, as evidenced by an official request for the student's records by the school or approved program, a public school or a district or state approved school program on October 1 of the next school year. This definition does not include a student who satisfies one or more of the exceptions listed in Section 5B of this rule.

H. "F.T.E." means full time enrollment of a student for computation of adult education funding.

]C. "Compulsory school age" means:

(1) a person who is at least five years old and no more than 17 years old on or before September 1;

(2) with respect to special education, a person who is at least three years old and no more than 21 years old on or before September 1.

D. "Data Clearinghouse" means the electronic data collection system used by the USOE to collect information required by law from LEAs about individual students at certain points throughout the school year to support the allocation of funds and accountability reporting.

E. "Electronic high school" means a rigorous program offering 9-12 grade level courses delivered over the Internet and coordinated by the USOE.

[I]F. "LEA" means a local education agency, including local school boards/public school districts and [post-secondary institutions]charter schools.

[J]G. "Membership" means [the number of pupils]a public school student is on the current roll of a public school class or public school as of a given date[.]:

(1) A [pupil]student is a member of a class or school from the date of entrance at the school and is placed on the current roll until official [withdrawal]removal from the class or school [because of completion, dismissal, death, transfer, or administrative withdrawal. The date of withdrawal is the date on which it is officially known that the pupil has left school for one of the above reasons and is not necessarily the first day after the date of last attendance. In no case may the date of withdrawal violate the Ten-day Membership Rule, except for reasons of sickness, hospitalization, pending court investigation or action, prior-approved trip, or earnest and persistent efforts of two or more contact hours per week to keep a child in school with services provided by certificated school district staff]due to the student having left the school.

(2) Removal from the roll does not mean that the LEA should delete the student's record, only that the student should no longer be counted in membership.

[K. "Part-time student" means a student carrying less than a full course load, as determined by the Board or the local board of education.

L. "Pupil in Average Daily Membership (ADM)" means a full-day equivalent pupil.

]H. "Minimum School Program (MSP)" means public school programs for kindergarten, elementary, and secondary schools described in Section 53A-17a-103(5).

I. "Resource" means a student who receives 1 to 179 minutes of special education services during a typical school day consistent with the student's IEP provided for under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq., amended in 2004.

J. "Retained senior" means a student beyond the general compulsory education age who is authorized by the LEA to remain in enrollment as a high school senior in the year(s) after the cohort has graduated.

K. "S1" means the record maintained by the USOE containing individual student demographic and school membership data in a Data Clearinghouse file.

L. "S2" means the record maintained by the USOE containing individual student data related to participation in a special education program in a Data Clearinghouse file.

M. "School day" means:

(1) a minimum of two hours per day per session in kindergarten[;] and a minimum of four hours per day in grades one through twelve[.], subject to the following constraints:

(2)(a) All school day calculations shall exclude lunch periods and pass time between classes but may include recess periods that include organization or instruction from school staff.

(b) Each day that satisfies hourly instruction time shall count as a school day, regardless of the number or length of class periods or whether or not particular classes meet.

N. "School membership" means membership other than in a special education or YIC program in the context of the Data Clearinghouse.

[N]O. "School [Y]year" means [a minimum of 990 hours of instruction in a minimum of 180 school days required to qualify for full minimum funding. The 180 school days shall be scheduled during ]the 12 month period [beginning]from July 1 through June 30[, 1995 with the following exceptions:

(1) The kindergarten program is a half-day program providing a minimum of 450 hours of instruction in a minimum of 180 school days during a school year to qualify for full minimum school funding.

(2) In grade one, the school shall provide a minimum of 810 hours of instruction in a minimum of 180 school days during a school year to qualify for full minimum school funding.

(3) An exception for schools using a modified 45-day 15-day year round schedule is provided for in R277-419-8D.

O. "Ten-day Membership Rule" means subject to Section 1A, a student shall not be counted in membership for funding purposes after 10 consecutive school days of unexcused absences or that the date of withdrawal shall not be later than the day after 10 consecutive school days of unexcused absences. Each day a school is officially in session shall be counted as a school day, regardless of the number or length of class periods or whether or not particular classes meet such as the 8-period per day high school classes.]

P. "Self-contained" means a public school student with an IEP who receives 180 minutes or more of special education services during a typical school day.

Q. "Self-Contained Resource Attendance Management (SCRAM)" means a record that tracks the aggregate membership of public school special education students for state funding purposes.

R. "SSID" means Statewide Student Identifier.

S. "UCAT" means any public institution of higher education affiliated with the Utah College of Applied Technology.

T. "Unexcused absence" means an absence charged to a student when the student was not physically present at school at any of the times attendance checks were made in accordance with Section R277-419-3B(3) and the student's absence could not be accounted for by evidence of a legitimate or valid excuse in accordance with local board policy on truancy as defined in Section 53A-11-101.

[P]U. "USOE" means the Utah State Office of Education.

[ Q. "Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU)" means the unit of measure of factors that is computed in accordance with the Minimum School Program Act for the purpose of determining the costs of a program on a uniform basis for each district.

] V. "Virtual education" means the use of information and communication technologies to offer educational opportunities to students in a manner that transcends traditional limitations of time and space with respect to their relationships with teachers, peers, and instructional materials.

W. "Year End upload" means the Data Clearinghouse file due annually by July 15 from school districts and charter schools to the USOE for the prior school year.

X. "YIC" means Youth in Custody.

Y. "YICSIS" means YIC Student Information System.

 

R277-419-3. [Operation]Minimum School Days, LEA Records, and Audits.

A. Minimum standards for school days

(1) [School districts]LEAs [are required to]shall conduct school for at least 990 instructional hours and 180 school days each school year; exceptions to the number of days for individual students and schools are provided for in R277-419-7.

(2) The required days [or]and hours may be offered at any time during the school year[ provided that each school day is consistent with R277-419-1(M), July 1 to June 30, except for Sunday. A student who is in membership in a regular school program for one full school year generates the full WPU possible under the law. No student may generate WPU monies for more than 990 hours in any school year], consistent with the law.

(3) Minimum standards shall apply to all public schools in all settings unless Utah law or this rule provides for specific exceptions.

B. Official records

(1) To determine student membership, [school districts]LEAs shall ensure that records of daily student attendance are [kept]maintained in each school which clearly and accurately show for each student the:

(a) [the ]entry date[,];

(b) exit date;

(c) exit or high school completion status;

(d) whether or not an absence was excused; and

(e) disability status (resource or self-contained, if applicable)[ and attendance record of each student. These records shall show when a student has been absent from school ten consecutive school days].

[ (2) All children with disabilities in the self-contained programs shall be identified with their disability code, in the individual school's records of attendance.

] ([3]2)(a) Computerized or manually produced records for [applied technology]Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs shall be kept by teacher, class and Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code.

(b) These records shall clearly and accurately show for each student in a CTE class the:

(i) entry date;

(ii) [and ]exit date; and

(iii) [ of each student and whether a student has been absent from school ten consecutive days]excused or unexcused status of absence.

([4]3) A minimum of one attendance check shall be made by [the]each public school each school day.

C[.](1) [Because of]Due to school activities requiring schedule and program modification during the first days and last days of the school year, an [district]LEA may report for the first five days, aggregate days of membership equal to the number recorded for the second five-day period of the school year.

(2) For the last three-day period, an [district]LEA may report aggregate days of membership equal to the number recorded for the immediately preceding three-day period.

(3) Schools shall continue instructional activities throughout required calendared instruction days.

D. [School District ]Audits

(1) An independent auditor shall be employed under contract by each [school district]LEA to audit its student accounting records annually and report the findings to the [district]LEA board of education and to the Finance and Statistics Section of the USOE;

(2) Reporting[ due] dates, [and suggested ]forms, and procedures are found in the [Guidelines and Procedures for Conducting the Annual Statistical Audits of Fall Enrollment and Student Membership]State of Utah Legal Compliance Audit Guide, provided to [school districts]LEAs by the USOE in cooperation with the State Auditor's Office and published under the heading of APP C-5;

(3) The USOE shall review student membership and fall enrollment audits as they relate to the allocation of state funds and may periodically or for cause review LEA records and practices for compliance with the laws and this rule.

 

R277-419-4. Student Membership.

[ A. For purposes of funding the regular basic school program, a student can only be a pupil in average daily membership once on any day. A student may be counted in full-time membership in the regular school program, or full-time membership in some other program, or in part-time membership in the regular school program and part-time membership in some other program. If a student's day is part-time in the regular school program and part-time in some other program (e.g., Adult Basic Education, Youth in Custody), the student's membership is reported on a pro-rated basis for each program. A student shall not be funded for more than one regular WPU for any school year. However, in addition, add-on WPUs may be generated.

B. Full-time students in grades 2-12 may be in average daily membership whenever district-approved classes are available.

C. Minimum criteria for homebound/hospitalized services

(1) A student requiring homebound or hospitalized teacher services shall receive a minimum of two contact hours of instruction per week to qualify for full membership in the regular program.

(2) A district shall provide the minimum of two contact hours per week and document that contact or it may not claim the state WPU for the student.

(3) The circumstances requiring the services shall be clearly stated and may include specific injuries, surgery, illness, other disabilities, pregnancy, or a district determination that a student should receive home instruction and supervision for a designated period of time. The expected period of absence must be estimated.

(4) A student with disabilities meeting these requirements may be accounted for under the special education homebound instruction program and receive the appropriate special education funding.

D. A student suspended in accordance with the law may be counted in membership, after 10 consecutive days of suspension, if the school continues to provide educational services at the minimum level provided in R277-419-4C, above, to the student during the suspension period.

E. Student enrollment

(1) the membership of students enrolled part-time in public schools is determined by the ratio of the number of hours or periods that the student is in membership per day or week to the total number of hours or periods in the school day or week. For example, a student in membership 3 periods in a 7 period school day generates 3/7 membership;

(2) to count membership in measuring eligibility for state funds, enrollment of a public school student in either of the following shall be counted as if the student were enrolled in a public school class or classes during that portion of the school day or week:

(a) released time for religious instruction or individual learning activity, shall not exceed the equivalent of one class period per day and shall be consistent with a Student Education/Occupation Plan signed by the student, parent/guardian, and school representative;

(b) a private school, not including a parochial school, under a contract between the private school and a public school district which requires the instruction to be paid for from public funds. Membership is calculated on the basis of fractional daily membership;

(3) except as provided above, a student enrolled in a public school and any of the following shall be credited for membership for state funding purposes only for the public school portion of the school day:

(a) a private school;

(b) a home school.

F. A student concurrently enrolled in a post-secondary institution and the public schools during a year may be counted in membership if the public school approves the post-secondary program and receives the progress reports and membership and attendance reports from the institution.

G. Districts may claim membership for students who are regularly enrolled in youth in custody classes, and who are also regularly enrolled during other times of the day in non-youth in custody classes. If the student is enrolled in YIC classes for up to two hours a day, the district may claim full membership; from two to four hours, 1/2 membership; for more than four hours, no membership. No subtraction in district membership shall be made for students who are enrolled in youth in custody classes for two or fewer hours per day or who receive tutoring, tracking, or other support services which do not result in a reduction in regular class enrollment.

H. The district providing the educational services for the following students may count them in full membership:

(1) students between the ages of five and eighteen who are residents of another school district in the state, who have received written permission for entry from the receiving district, and for whom the receiving district has given written notification to the board of education of the district of residence;

(2) exchange students under Section 53A-2-206 which requires the student to be sponsored by an agency approved by the Board prior to the students' arrival in the United States; and

(3) students beyond the age of eighteen remaining in continuous education.

I. High school completion options and funding

(1) Students eighteen years of age or over who have not graduated from high school with their graduating class shall not be enrolled as continuous education students, except students who do not graduate with their graduating class due to:

(a) sickness;

(b) hospitalization;

(c) pending court investigation or action or both;

(d) other extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student; or

(e) special education students attending school in accordance with the provisions of a valid Individualized Education Program (IEP) who may be enrolled until age 22 or until graduated. School districts are encouraged to handle these students in the regular programs with approval by the local boards of education.

(2) A student under eighteen years of age who has not graduated and who is a resident of the district, may, with approval under the state administered Adult Education Standards, enroll in the Adult Basic and Adult High School Completion Program and generate regular state WPUs at the rate of 990 clock hours of membership per one weighted pupil unit per year, 1 F.T.E. on a yearly basis. The clock hours of students enrolled part-time must be pro-rated;

(3) A student eighteen years of age or over who has not graduated, who is domiciled in the state of Utah, and who intends to graduate from high school, may, with approval under the state administered Adult Education Standards, enroll in the State Adult High School Completion Program and attend up to 990 clock hours of membership per year, 1 F.T.E. on a yearly basis. Weighted pupil units are generated for Adult High School Completion students at the rate of 72 days or 396 clock hours of membership per WPU.

(a) The clock hours of students enrolled part-time must be pro-rated.

(b) As an alternative, equivalent weighted pupil units may be generated for competencies mastered on the basis of prior authorization of a district plan by the Adult Education and USOE School Finance and Business Sections.

(c) The ten-day membership rule of R277-419-1(O) for Adult High School Completion students is 10 clock hours.

J. Applied Technology Class Attendance

(1) A student may be in a full-time membership and generate the regular WPU even though spending part of the day at an applied technology center.

(2) Students may generate regular WPUs hour-for-hour spent in bus travel to and from applied technology centers, if the students are traveling during their regular school day.

(3) Add-on WPUs are generated during approved applied technology instruction, but not during bus travel.

K. Alternative High School Membership

(1) The following conditions shall exist in order to generate WPUs for Alternative High School Membership:

(a) the Alternative High School must have on file an assignment transfer from the district of residence for eligible students; and

(b) only students in continuous education generate regular WPUs.

(2) Students involved only with course work at the school have ADM calculated in the same manner as part-time or full-time students in the regular school;

(3) A student whose program consists of seminars or course work part time and participating in work experience part time in the community with or without pay, has ADM computed by dividing the hours of membership by 990. For the purposes of computing ADM, work experience is limited to a maximum of ten hours per week;

(4) Students who are engaged in independent or home study have ADM calculated by dividing the student contact credits earned from independent study by the number of contact credits earned by a regular full-time student during the regular school year in the district. For example, to determine the fraction of one ADM for which a student will be counted, if in the high school a full-time student earns seven contact credits, seven is the denominator and the numerator will be the contact credits earned from independent study.

] A. Eligibility

(1) In order to generate membership for funding through the MSP for any clock hour of instruction on any school day, a student shall:

(a) not have previously earned a basic high school diploma or certificate of completion;

(b) not be enrolled in a YIC program with a YIC service code other than RSM, ISI-1 or ISI-2;

(c) not have unexcused absences on all of the prior ten consecutive school days;

(d) be a resident of Utah as defined under Sections 53A-2-201 through 213;

(e) be of compulsory school age or a retained senior;

(f)(i) be expected to attend a regular learning facility operated or recognized by the LEA on each regularly scheduled school day; or

(ii) have direct instructional contact with a licensed educator provided by the LEA at an LEA-sponsored center for tutorial assistance or at the student's place of residence or convalescence for at least 120 minutes each week during an expected period of absence, if physically excused from such a facility for an extended period of time, due to:

(A) injury, illness, surgery, suspension, pregnancy, pending court investigation or action; or

(B) an LEA determination that home instruction is necessary.

(2) Students may generate MSP funding by participation in an LEA-sponsored or LEA-supported virtual education program other than the Utah Electronic High School that is consistent with the student's SEOP, has been approved by the student's counselor, and includes regular face-to-face instruction or facilitation by a designated employee of the LEA.

B. Reporting

(1) LEAs shall report aggregate membership for each student via the School Membership field in the S1 record and special education membership in the SCRAM Membership field in the S2 record of the Year End upload of the Data Clearinghouse file.

(2) In the Data Clearinghouse, aggregate membership shall be expressed in days.

(3) YIC membership for traditional and special education students shall be reported via YICSIS, but special education membership for YIC students shall be reported via the Data Clearinghouse.

C. Calculations

(1) If a student was enrolled for only part of the school day or only part of the school year, the student's membership shall be prorated according to the number of hours, periods or credits for which the student actually was enrolled in relation to the number of hours, periods or credits for which a full-time student normally would have been enrolled. For example:

(a) If the student was enrolled for 4 periods each day in a 7 period school day for all 180 school days, the student's aggregate membership would be 4/7 of 180 days or 103 days.

(b) If the student was enrolled for 7 periods each day in a 7 period school day for 103 school days, the student's membership would also be 103 days.

(2) For students in grades 2 through 12, days in membership shall be calculated by the LEA using a method equivalent to the following: total clock hours of instruction for which the student was enrolled during the school year divided by 990 hours and then multiplied by 180 days and finally rounded up to the nearest whole day. For example, if a student was enrolled for only 900 hours during the school year, the student's aggregate membership would be (900/990)*180, and the LEA would report 164 days.

(3) For students in grade 1, the first term of the formula shall be adjusted to use 810 hours as the denominator.

(4) For students in kindergarten, the first term of the formula shall be adjusted to use 450 hours as the denominator.

D. Constraints

(1) The sum of regular and self-contained special education membership days may not exceed 180 days;

(2) The sum of regular and resource special education membership days may not exceed 360 days.

E. Exceptions

LEAs may also count a student in membership for the equivalent in hours of up to:

(1) one period each school day, if the student has been:

(a) released by school upon parent's request during the school day for religious instruction or individual learning activity consistent with the student's SEOP; or

(b) exempted from school attendance under 53A-11-102 for home schooling and participates in one or more extracurricular activities under R277-438;

(2) two periods each school day for time spent in bus travel during the regular school day to and from UCAT facilities, if the student is enrolled in CTE instruction consistent with the student's SEOP;

(3) four periods each school day, if the student is enrolled in a YIC program with a YIC secure service code of ISI-2. State-funded YIC programs operating in facilities that provide residential care may receive funding for a maximum of 205 days, with prior USOE approval;

(4) all periods each school day, if the student is enrolled in:

(a) a concurrent enrollment program that satisfies all the criteria of R277-713;

(b) a private school without religious affiliation under a contract initiated by an LEA which directs that the instruction be paid by public funds. Contracts shall be approved by the LEA board in an open meeting.

(c) a foreign exchange student program under 53A-2-206(2)(i)(B).

(d) Electronic High School or UCAT classes for credit which meet curriculum requirements, consistent with the student's SEOP and following written school counselor approval.

(e) a school operated by an LEA under a Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind IEP:

(i) students may only be counted in (S1) membership and shall not have an S2 record;

(ii) the S2 record for these students shall only be submitted by the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

 

[R277-419-5. Dropout Determination.

A. The Board shall use the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data Committee's dropout definition and reporting procedures available from the Finance Section of the USOE. School districts shall provide the data as specified in the Fall Enrollment Report beginning with the 1997 report.

B. A student in grades 7-12 enrolled during the school year shall be reported as a dropout for that school year if the student does not complete the school year, unless the student:

(1) is enrolled on October 1 of the following school year;

(2) is not in attendance due to suspension, illness, or other extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student, provided that the school is officially notified and services are provided consistent with this rule;

(3) transfers to another public school, a state or district approved program, or a regularly organized private school, as evidenced by an official request for the student's records by the receiving school by October 1 of the following year;

(4) transfers to a home school, if the student receives a release annually from the public school district of residence, and the student provides verification to the school district's satisfaction that the student is being taught consistent with Section 53A-11-102;

(5) graduates early; or

(6) dies.

C. A student who completes the school year in grades 7-12, but is not enrolled on October 1 of the following year, is reported as a dropout for the year and grade for which the student fails to enroll. The student is commonly known as a summer drop-out or fall no-show.

 

]R277-419-[6]5. High School Completion Status.

[ A. An individual is recorded as completing school when the student graduates in the traditional sense from high school or completes a state or district approved educational program and receives official recognition of graduation or completion from school administrators.

(1) State or district approved programs may be special education programs as defined by the student's IEP consistent with the law, home school when officially authorized on an annual basis by school or district administrators, GED preparation, Youth in Custody, alternative high school programs, and adult high school programs.

(2) Adult or alternative high school may be a combination of traditional high school credits, GED credits and adult or alternative high school credits.

B. Approval of programs for school completion--presentation of a high school diploma and participation in formal graduation exercises--are solely within school district discretion consistent with the law and Board rules.

] A. LEAs shall use the following decision rules and associated codes in the Data Clearinghouse to indicate the high school completion or exit status of each student who leaves the Utah public education system:

(1) dropped out (DO), when no other status code legitimately represents the reason for departure or absence from school;

(2) died (DE);

(3) expelled (EX);

(4) graduated with a high school diploma, (G*) by satisfying one of the options specified in R277-705-4B;

(5) received a certificate of completion (CT):

(a) to qualify for a certificate, a student shall be in membership in twelfth grade on the last day of the school year; and

(b) meet any additional criteria established by the LEA consistent with its authority under R277-705-4C;

(6) suspended (SU);

(7) transferred out of state (TO);

(8) transferred out of the country (TC);

(9) transferred to a private school (TP);

(10) transferred to home schooling (TH);

(11)(a) U.S. citizen who enrolled in another country as a foreign exchange student (FE);

(b) non-U.S. citizen who enrolled in a Utah public school as a foreign exchange student under Section 53A-2-206(2)(i)(B) shall be identified by resident status (F), not by an exit code;

(12) withdrawn (WD) due to a situation so serious that educational services cannot be continued even under the conditions of R277-419-4(A)(1)(f)(ii).

B. LEAs shall report the high school completion status or exit code of each student to the USOE as specified in Data Clearinghouse documentation.

 

R277-419-[7]6. Student Identification and Tracking.

A(1) Pursuant to Section 53A-1-603.5, LEAs shall use the SSID system maintained by the USOE to assign every public school student a unique student identifier; and

(2) shall display the SSID on student transcripts exchanged with LEAs and Utah public institutions of higher education.

B(1) [School districts]LEAs shall [request]require all students to provide their [district with a social security number for purposes of identification and electronic record transfer]legal first, middle, and last names at the time of registration to ensure that the correct SSID follows students who transfer among LEAs.

(2)(a) Names shall be transcribed from the student's birth certificate or other reliable proof of the student's identity and age, consistent with Section 53A-11-503;

(b) The direct transcription of student names from birth certificates or other reliable proof of student identity and age shall be the student's legal name for purposes of maintaining school records; and

(c) Schools or school districts may modify the order of student names, provide for nicknames, or allow for different surnames, consistent with court documents or parent preferences, so long as legal names are maintained on student records and used in transmitting student information to the USOE.

C. The USOE and LEAs shall track students and maintain data using students' legal names.

D. If there is a compelling need to protect a student by using an alias, the LEA should exercise discretion in recording the name of the student.

E. The SSID shall be an arbitrary number and may not contain any personally identifying information about the student.

 

R277-419-[8]7. Variances.

A. An exception for school attendance for public school students may be made at the discretion of the local board, in the length of the school day or year, for students with [unusual problems]compelling circumstances. The time an excepted student is required to [be in]attend school [is established in view of the student's particular needs]shall be established by the student's IEP or SEOP.

B. Emergency/activity/weather-related exigency time [should]shall be [included]planned for in an [school district]LEA's annual calendaring[ for each school]. If school is closed for any reason, the instructional time missed shall be made up under the emergency/activity time as part of the minimum required time to qualify for full MSP funding.

C. Staff Planning, Professional Development, Student Assessment Time, and Parent-Teacher and Student Education Plan (SEP) Conferences.

(1) To provide planning and professional development time for staff, [districts]LEAs may hold school longer some days of the week and shorter other days so long as minimum school day requirements, as provided for in R277-419-1M, are satisfied.

(2) Schools may conduct parent-teacher and student education plan conferences during the school day.

(3) Such conferences may only be held for a total of the equivalent of three full school days or a maximum of 16.5 hours for the school year. [ADM]Student membership for professional development or parent-teacher conference days shall be [is] counted as that of the previous school day.

(4) LEAs may designate no more than 12 instructional days at the beginning of the school year or at the end of the school year or both for the assessment of students entering or completing kindergarten. If instruction days are designated for kindergarten assessment:

(a) the days shall be designated by the LEA board in an open meeting;

(b) adequate notice and explanation shall be provided to kindergarten parents well in advance of the assessment period;

(c) assessment shall be conducted by qualified school employees consistent with Section 53A-3-410; and

(d) assessment time per student shall be adequate to justify the forfeited instruction time.

([4]5) The final decision and approval regarding planning time, parent-teacher and SEP conferences rests with the local board of education, consistent with Utah law and Board administrative rules.

(6) Total instructional time and school calendars shall be approved by local boards in an open meeting.

D. A school participating in the School Professional Development Days Pilot Program, consistent with R277-418, may use a maximum of 22 hours of the 990 hours of student instructional time required under R277-419-3A(1) for professional development days. Use of this time, consistent with R277-418, requires prior Board approval.

[D]E. A school using a modified 45-day 15-day year round schedule initiated prior to July 1, 1995 shall be considered to be in compliance with this rule if a school's schedule includes a minimum of 990 hours of instruction time in a minimum of 172 days.

 

KEY: education finance, school enrollment

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [August 15, 2003]2006

Notice of Continuation: October 18, 2002

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: Art X Sec 3; 53A-1-401(3); 53A-1-402(1)(e); 53A-1-404(2); 53A-1-301(3)(d); 53A-3-404; 53A-3-410