DAR File No. 30095

Education, Administration

R277-484

Data Standards, Deadlines and Procedures

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE

DAR File No.: 30095
Filed: 06/14/2007, 03:27
Received by: NL

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

This rule is amended to improve the process and the time lines for school districts and charter schools to submit data files to the Utah State Office of Education.

Summary of the rule or change:

The amendments provide for new and revised definitions; provide for changes to deadlines for data submission; provide adjustments to deadlines; provide changes to data source for accountability reporting; provide changes to use of data for allocation of funds; provide changes to modifications of data based on audits; and provide changes to financial consequences for failure to submit timely reports.

State statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

Subsection 53A-1-401(3)

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

There are no anticipated costs or savings to the state budget. There is minimal required increases in reporting; reporting time lines are changed and emphasized.

local governments:

There are no anticipated costs to local education agencies. Time lines are revised and, in some cases, data requirements are changed, but not increased. There may be minimal savings due to increased electronic reporting.

other persons:

There are no anticipated cost or savings to other persons. Data reporting and time line revisions and requirements apply to schools, not to individuals.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

There are no compliance costs for affected persons. Time lines are revised and, in some cases, data requirements are changed, but not increased.

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:

07/31/2007

This rule may become effective on:

08/07/2007

Authorized by:

Carol Lear, Director, School Law and Legislation

R277. Education, Administration.

R277-484. Data Standards[, Deadlines and Procedures].

R277-484-1. Definitions.

A. "Annual Financial Report" means an account of [district]LEA revenue and expenditures by source and fund sufficient to meet the reporting requirements specified in Section 53A-1-301(2)(d)(i) through (v).

B. "Annual Program Report" means an account of [district]LEA revenue and expenditures by source and program sufficient to meet the reporting requirements specified in Section 53A-1-301(2)(d)(i) through (v).

C. "Board" means the Utah State Board of Education.

D. "Computer Aided Credentials of Teachers in Utah System (CACTUS)" means the [electronic file]database maintained on all licensed Utah educators. The [file]database includes information such as:

(1) personal directory information;

(2) educational background;

(3) endorsements;

(4) employment history;

(5) professional development information;[ and]

(6) completion of employee background checks; and

([6]7) a record of disciplinary action taken against the educator.

[ E. "CCD" means Common Core of Data, a set of surveys administered by the NCES.

] [F]E. "Data Clearinghouse File" means the electronic file of student level data submitted by [districts]LEAs to the USOE in the layout specified by the USOE.

[G]F. "Data Warehouse" means the database of demographic information, course taking, and test results maintained by the USOE on all students enrolled in Utah schools.

G. "EDEN" means the Education Data Exchange Network, the mechanism by which state education agencies are mandated as of the 2006-07 school year to submit data to the U.S. Department of Education.

H. "ESEA" means the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

[ I. "FTE" means full time equivalent.

J. "MESA" means Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement, a program designed to encourage underserved ethnic minority and all female students to prepare for careers in those areas. The criteria of the program are defined under Section 53A-17a-121 and R277-717.

] I. "LEA" means local education agency, which may be either a public school district or a charter school.

[K]J. "MSP" means Minimum School Program, the set of state support K-12 public school funding programs.

[L]K. "MST" means Mountain Standard Time.[

M. "NCES" means National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the United States Department of Education.

N. "Nonconforming data" means data elements whose values are (a) missing or (b) incomplete or (c) not consistent with other values in the same or comparable reports or (d) not close to expected values based on available comparative data from similar districts or trend data for the district in question or (e) requires further analysis or verification.

O. "School district (district)" means any organizational unit of the public education system existing under state laws as either a regular school district or a charter school.]

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

Q. "Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU)" means the unit of measure 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 school district.]

[R]M. "Year" means both the school year and the fiscal year in Utah, which runs from July 1 through June 30.

[S]N. "YICSIS" means the Youth In Custody Student Information System.

 

R277-484-2. Authority and Purpose.

A. This rule is authorized by Utah Constitution Article X, Section 3 which vests general control and supervision of public education in the Board, and by Section 53A-1-401(3) which permits the Board to adopt rules in accordance with its responsibilities and specifically allows the Board to interrupt disbursements of state aid to any [district]LEA which fails to comply with rules.

B. The Board, through its chief executive officer, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, is required to perform certain data collection related duties[, such as organizing education data into an automated decision support system consistent with Section 53A-1-301(2)(e)] essential to the operation of statewide educational accountability and financial systems as mandated in state and federal law.

C. The purpose of this rule is to support the [construction of the decision support system identified in Subsection 2B and to be consistent with R277-473, Testing Procedures, by providing specific standards, deadlines, and procedures by which districts and the USOE shall fulfill their respective responsibilities for the collection and reporting of nonassessment data essential to both school accountability and allocation of state funds to districts]operation of these by ensuring timely submission of data by LEAs.

 

R277-484-3. Deadlines for Data Submission.

[Districts]LEAs shall submit data to the USOE through the following reports by 5:00 p.m. MST on the date and in the format specified by the USOE:

A. January 24 - Adult Education - midyear report for current year.

B. June 15[ - ]

(1) Immunization Status Report (to Utah Department of Health) - final;

(2) Safe School Incidents Report - for current year.

C. June [30]29 - CACTUS - final update for current year.

D. July [15]10, beginning with the 2007-08 school year (due July 15 for the 2006-07 school year)[

(1) Adult Education - final report for prior year;]

([2]1) Bus Driver Credentials Report - for current year - Financial and Business Services;

([3]2) Classified Personnel Report - for prior year - Financial and Business Services;

([4]3) Data Clearinghouse File - final comprehensive update for prior year - Data Assessment, and Accountability;

([5]4) Driver Education Report - for prior year - Educator Quality;

([6]5) ESEA Choice and Supplemental Services Report - for prior year;

([7]6) Fee Waivers Report - for prior year;

([8]7) Fire Drill Compliance Statement - for prior year;

([9]8) [Immunization Status Report (to Utah Department of Health) - final for prior year]Home Schooled Students Report - for prior year;

([10]9) Teacher Benefits Report - for prior year;

([11]10) [YICSIS - final update for prior year]Transportation - for prior year:

(a) Bus Inventory Report;

(b) Year End Transportation Statistics Report.

E. August [1]24 - [Textbook Report -]Adult Education - final report for prior year.

F. September [1]15 - [

(1) Extended Year for Severely Disabled Report;

(2)] Membership Audit Report - for prior year.

G. October 1

(1) Annual Financial Report (AFR) - for prior year;

(2) Annual Program Report (APR) - for prior year.

H. October 15[ - ]

(1) Data Clearinghouse File - update as of October 1 for current year.

(2) YICSIS - update as of October 1 for current year.

I. November 1[

(1) CACTUS - update for current year;]

(1) Data Clearinghouse File - optional revised final comprehensive update for prior year;

([1]2) Enrollment and Transfer Student Documentation Audit Report - for current year;

([2]3) Immunization Status Report - for current year;

([3]4) Transportation Statistics for state funding:

(a) Schedule A1 ([Mileage]Miles, Minutes, Students Report)[ B] - projected for current year;

(b) Schedule B ([Time]Miscellaneous Expenditure Report) - for [current]prior year.

J. November 15[ - ]

(1) CACTUS - update for current year; and

(2) Free and Reduced Price Lunch Enrollment Survey - as of October 31 for current year.

K. November 30 - Financial Audit Report.

L. December 15 - Data Clearinghouse File - update as of December 1 for current year.

 

R277-484-[7]4. Adjustments to Deadlines.

A. Deadlines that fall on a weekend, state holiday or Utah Education Association convention day in a given year shall be moved to the date of the first workday after the date specified in Section 3 for that year.

B. An [district]LEA may seek an extension of a deadline to ensure continuation of funding and provide more accurate input to allocation formulas by submitting a written request to the USOE. The request shall be received by the USOE State Director of School Finance at the at least 24 hours before the specified deadline in Section 3 and include:

(1) The reason(s) why the extension is needed;

(2) The signatures of the [district]LEA business administrator and the district superintendent or charter school director; and

(3) The date by which the [district]LEA shall submit the report.

C. In processing the request for the extension, the USOE State Director of School Finance shall:

(1) Take into consideration the pattern of [district]LEA compliance with reporting deadlines and the urgency of the use which depends on the data to be submitted, consult with other USOE staff who have knowledge relevant to the situation of the [district]LEA; and either

(2) Approve the request and allow the MSP fund transfer process to continue; or

(3) Recommend denial of the request and forward it the USOE Associate Superintendent for Data and Business Services for a final decision on whether to stop the MSP fund transfer process.

D. If, after receiving an extension, the [district]LEA fails to submit the report by the agreed date, the MSP fund transfer process shall be stopped and the procedure described in Section 6 shall apply.

E. Extensions shall apply only to the report(s) and date(s) specified in the request.

[F. Extensions shall affect only the status of the MSP fund transfer process and consequently the values of summary variables used in allocation formulas; extensions shall not necessarily delay the loading of detail data into the Data Warehouse for use in accountability formulas.]F. Exceptions - Deadlines for the following reports may not be extended:

(1) June 29 CACTUS Update;

(2) July 10 Final Data Clearinghouse File - final comprehensive update for prior year beginning 2007-08 school year and July 15 for 2006-07 school year only - Data Assessment, and Accountability; and

(3) November 1 error corrected Data Clearinghouse File.

 

R277-484-[4]5. [Use of ]Data Source for Accountability Reporting.

A. [Of the reports listed in Section 3 that are sources for the Data Warehouse, t]The USOE shall load operational data collections[them] into the Data Warehouse as of the submission deadlines specified.

B. The Data Warehouse shall be the sole official source of data for annual:

(1) school performance reports required under Section 53A-3a-602.5;

(2) determination of adequate yearly progress as required under the ESEA[.]; and

(3) submission of data files to the U.S. Department of Education via EDEN.[

C. If the data available to the Data Warehouse as of the final deadline is determined to be incomplete or inaccurate, or does not conform to comparable data-sets, or further analysis and verification is needed, the USOE shall:

(1) load the data into the Data Warehouse as is; and

(2) notify users of accountability reports of specific problems with the data that may affect its reliability or interpretation. Such notification may take the form of a technical appendix on data quality.

D. The CACTUS update of November 1 shall be the sole official source of teacher FTE data by school for reporting to the NCES on the CCD nonfiscal survey.]

 

R277-484-[5]6. Use of Data for Allocation of Funds.

The USOE School Finance and Statistics Section shall publish after each general legislative session by June 30 on its website an explicit description of how data shall be used to allocate funds to LEAs in each MSP program in the following fiscal year.

[ A. Of the reports listed in Section 3:

(1) the Data Clearinghouse File of July 15 shall be the sole official source of prior year data for MSP allocation formulas which require summary statistics on the following types of students:

(a) Early Graduates, under Section 53A-15-102 and R277-703;

(b) English Language Learner (Limited English Proficient);

(c) Free or Reduced Price Lunch Eligible (Economically Disadvantaged, Low Income);

(d) Homeless;

(e) Immigrant;

(f) MESA, under Section 53A-17a-121 and R277-717;

(g) Migrant;

(h) Mobile;

(i) Racial/Ethnic Minority.

(2) YICSIS shall be the sole official source of membership data on YIC students.

(3) the Data Clearinghouse File and YICSIS update of July 15 shall be the sole official source of data for preaudit aggregate membership.

(4) the Data Clearinghouse File of October 15 shall be the sole official source of preaudit data for the Fall Enrollment count.

(5) the CACTUS update of June 30 shall be the sole official source of prior year data for MSP allocation formulas which require summary statistics on teachers.

B. If the data available for allocation purposes is inconsistent with other data, and the cause of the nonconformity is determined by the USOE to be outside of the district's control, the USOE may impute values to ensure continued funding.

C. If the USOE uses imputed values, it shall also document how the cause of nonconforming data was determined as well as the method by which replacement values were imputed in its fiscal work papers.

]

R277-484-[8]7. [Modifications of Data]Adjustments to Summary Statistics Based on Compliance Audits.

A. For the purpose of allocating MSP funds and projecting enrollment, LEA level [A]aggregate membership and fall enrollment [for Kindergarten, Grades 1-12, Special Education (Self Contained), and Homebound and Hospitalized students shall]counts may be modified by the USOE [to match]on the basis of the values in the Membership and Enrollment audit reports, respectively, when an audit report review team comprising at least three members of the Finance and Statistics and Charter School sections agree that an adjustment is warranted by the evidence of an audit:

(1) the audit [is conducted by an independent auditor in accordance with the State of Utah Legal Compliance Audit Guide; and]report review team shall make its determination within five working days of the authorized audit report deadline;

(2) [the audit report is submitted by the auditor to the USOE]values can only be adjusted downward when audit reports are received after the authorized deadlines.[

B. If an otherwise acceptable nonfiscal audit report is received by the USOE too late to incorporate into the next scheduled update of the MSP budget for the fiscal year in question, the USOE shall:

(1) use the corresponding preaudit data submitted by the district in the allocation formulas; and

(2) indicate in the MSP budget publication that the district's allocations are based on preaudit data.]

 

R277-484-[6]8. Financial Consequences of Failure to Submit Reports on Time.

A. If an [district]LEA fails to submit a report by its deadline as specified in Section 3, the USOE shall stop the MSP fund transfer process on the day after the deadline, unless the [district]LEA has obtained an extension of the deadline in accordance with the procedure described in Section 7, to the following extent:

(1) 10% of the total monthly MSP transfer amount [for the following reports:]in the first month, 25% in the second month, and 50% in the third and subsequent months for any report other than June 15 Immunization Status report.

[(a) Annual Financial Report;

(b) Annual Program Report;

(c) Data Clearinghouse File (July 15);

(d) Data Clearinghouse File (October 15);

(e) Financial Audit Report;

(2) 100% of the monthly MSP transfer amount for the specific program, if the report pertains to any of the following programs:

(a) Adult Education (July 15);

(b) Driver Education;

(c) Safe Schools;

(d) Special Education (December 15 - Data Clearinghouse File);

(e) Transportation (November 1);

(f) Youth In Custody.

]([3]2) Loss of up to 1.0 WPU from Kindergarten or Grades 1-12 programs, depending on the grade level and aggregate membership of the student, in the current year [Fall]Mid Year Update for each student whose prior year immunization status was not accounted for in accordance with Utah Code 53A-11-301 as of [July]June 15.

B. If the USOE has stopped the MSP fund transfer process for an [district]LEA, the USOE shall:

(1) upon receipt of a late report from that [district]LEA, restart the transfer process within the month (if the report is submitted by 10:00 a.m. before the [twentieth]tenth working day of the month) or in the following month (if the report is submitted after 10:00 a.m. on or after the [twentieth]tenth working day of the month); and

(2) inform the appropriate Board Committee at its next regularly scheduled Committee meeting.

(3) inform the chair of the [local board or ]governing board [of a charter school ]if [the district staff or charter school]LEA staff are not responsive in correcting ongoing problems with data.

 

KEY: data standards, reports, deadlines

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [June 17, 2003]2007

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