R277.  Education, Administration.
R277-486.  Professional Staff Cost Program.
R277-486-1.  Authority and Purpose.
	(1)  This rule is authorized by:
	(a)  Utah Constitution Article X, Section 3, which vests general control and supervision of public education in the Board;
	(b)  Subsection 53E-3-401(4), which allows the Board to make rules to execute the Board's duties and responsibilities under the Utah Constitution and state law; and
	(c)  Subsection 53F-2-305(2), which authorizes the Board to make a rule requiring a certain percentage of a LEA's professional staff to be licensed in the area the teacher teaches to receive full funding under the state statutory formula.
	(2)  The purpose of this rule is to outline the eligibility requirements for an LEA to receive WPUs for professional staff including the acceptable experience and training an LEA's staff should have.

R277-486-2.  Definitions.
	(1)  "Comprehensive Administration of Credentials for Teachers in Utah Schools (CACTUS)" means the electronic file maintained on all licensed Utah educators that includes:
	(a)  personal directory information;
	(b)  educational background;
	(c)  endorsements;
	(d)  employment history;
	(e)  professional development information; and
	(f)  a record of any disciplinary action taken against the educator.
	(3)  "FTE" means full time equivalent.
	(2)  "National Board certified educator" means an educator who has been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).
	(3)  "Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU)" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 53F-2-102(7).

R277-486-3.  Eligibility to Receive WPUs for Professional Staff.
	(1)(a)  An LEA shall only receive WPUs in accordance with the formula provided in Subsection 53F-2-305(1)(a):
	(i)  for an educator who holds at least a bachelor's degree; and
	(ii)  to the extent an educator is qualified to work in the area the educator is assigned consistent with R277-520.
	(b)  A full time educator who is appropriately qualified in only 75% of the educator's assignments would count as 0.75 FTEs in the calculation of an LEA's WPU.
	(c)  An LEA shall have an appropriately qualified educator in every assignment to receive full funding.
	(2)  An LEA may not receive WPUs for interns or paraprofessionals in any assignment.

R277-486-4.  Acceptable Experience.
	(1)  Educator experience for purposes of this rule shall be measured in one-year increments.
	(2)  For purposes of the professional staff cost calculation, an educator shall be credited by the Superintendent with one year of experience for every school year in which the educator is employed:
	(a)  at least half-time (0.5 FTE) in a position that requires a Utah Educator License as described in R277-520; and
	(b)  in a public school in the State of Utah or in a regionally accredited:
	(i)  public school outside of the State of Utah;
	(ii)  private school; or
	(iii)  institution of higher education; or
	(iv)  regional service center.
	(3)  To obtain credit under Subsection (2), the LEA which employs the educator shall submit acceptable documentation verifying such experience to the Superintendent, including documentation of the school's or institution's regional accreditation.
	(4)  An educator who is employed in a prekindergarten position may not be counted for the purposes of determining an LEA's professional staff WPUS, unless the educator is or was employed in a special education position in an accredited school.
	(5)  None of the following experiences are considered acceptable for purposes of determining an educator's experience under this rule:
	(a)  unpaid volunteer service;
	(b)  paid consulting;
	(c)  employment in non-instructional or non-administrative positions in a school setting; or
	(d)  a school internship.
	(6)  The Superintendent may require an educator or LEA to provide documentation of an educator's experience in a private school, institution of higher education, or a regional service center to determine relevance of experience.

R277-486-5.  Acceptable Training.
	Acceptable training under this rule may include:
	(1)  Any degree at the bachelor's level or above or credit beyond the current degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education.
	(2)  Any professional development activity consistent with R277-500 and approved in writing by the Superintendent.

R277-486-6.  Mapping Degree Summary Data to Statutory Formula.
	(1)  For purposes of inputting degree summary data, an LEA shall use the coding provided by the Superintendent in correspondence with the Professional Staff Cost formula table in Subsection 53F-2-305(1)(a):
	(2)  In addition to credit received for degree categories corresponding with the Professional Staff Cost formula table in Subsection 53F-2-305(1)(a), an LEA shall be credited for an individual with National Board certification at the doctorate level.

R277-486-7.  Data Sources.
	(1)  For an LEA that was in operation in the prior year, data shall be used from the June 29th update of CACTUS as required by Section R277-484-3.
	(2)  For an LEA that was not in operation in the prior year, data shall be used from the November 15th update of CACTUS as required by Section R277-484-3.

KEY:  professional staff
Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment:  April 8, 2019
Notice of Continuation:  February 8, 2019
Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law:  Art X Sec 3; 53F-2-305(2); 53E-3-401(4)