No. 31574 (Amendment): R277-419. Pupil Accounting

DAR File No.: 31574
Filed: 06/16/2008, 03:27
Received by: NL

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

This rule is amended to remove the variance from the required 990 hours of student instruction time for the School Professional Development Days Pilot Program. The pilot program was not continued by the 2008 Legislature. The amended rule also removes references to YICSIS, as the YIC (Youth in Custody) Student Information System no longer exists and adds additional coding for the Data Clearinghouse to identify high school completion status.

Summary of the rule or change:

The changes include removing the variance from the required 990 hours of student instruction time for the School Professional Development Days Pilot Program from the rule; removing references to YICSIS; and adding additional coding for the Data Clearinghouse.

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 anticipated costs or savings to the state budget. The changes are primarily cleanup changes to remove programs that no longer exist and provide clarification for identifying high school completion status.

local governments:

There are no anticipated costs or savings to local government. The changes merely remove programs that no longer exist and provide clarification for identifying high school completion status.

small businesses and persons other than businesses:

There are no anticipated costs or savings to small businesses AND persons other than businesses. The changes relate specifically to the Utah public education system and merely remove programs that no longer exist and provide clarification for identifying high school completion status.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

There are no compliance costs for affected persons. The changes merely remove programs that no longer exist and provide clarification for identifying high school completion status.

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 [e-mail]

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:

07/31/2008

This rule may become effective on:

08/07/2008

Authorized by:

Carol Lear, Director, School Law and Legislation

RULE TEXT

R277. Education, Administration.

R277-419. Pupil Accounting.

R277-419-1. Definitions.

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

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

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.

F. "Influenza pandemic (pandemic)" means a global outbreak of serious illness in people. It may be caused by a strain of influenza that most people have no natural immunity to and that is easily spread from person to person.

G. "LEA" means a local education agency, including local school boards/public school districts and charter schools.

H. "Membership" means a public school student is on the current roll of a public school class or public school as of a given date:

(1) A 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 removal from the class or school 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.

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

J. "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.

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

(1) sickness;

(2) hospitalization;

(3) pending court investigation or action or both; or

(4) other extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student.

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

M. "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.

N. "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.

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

P. "School year" means the 12 month period from July 1 through June 30.

Q. "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.

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

S. "SSID" means Statewide Student Identifier.

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

U. "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.

V. "USOE" means the Utah State Office of Education.

W. "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.

X. "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.

Y. "YIC" means Youth in Custody.[

Z. "YICSIS" means YIC Student Information System.]

 

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

A. Minimum standards for school days

(1) LEAs 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 and hours may be offered at any time during the school year, consistent with the law.

(3) Health Department Emergency or Pandemic

(a) The Board may waive the day and hour requirement, following a vote of Board members, pursuant to a directive from the Utah State Health Department or a local health department, that results in the closure of a school in the event of a pandemic or other public health emergency.

(b) In the event that the Board is unable to meet in a timely manner, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may issue a waiver following consultation with a majority of Board members.

(c) The waiver may be for a designated time period and for specific areas, school districts, or schools in the state, as determined by the health department directive.

(d) The waiver may allow for school districts to continue to receive state funds for pupil services and reimbursements.

(e) The waiver by the Board or State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall direct school districts to provide as much notice to students and parents of the suspension of school services, as is reasonably possible.

(f) The waiver shall direct school districts to comply with health department directives, but to continue to provide any services to students that are not inconsistent with the directive.

(g) The Board may encourage school districts to provide electronic or distance learning services to affected students for the period of the pandemic or other public health emergency to the extent of personnel and funds available.

(4) Minimum standards shall apply to all public schools in all settings unless Utah law or this rule provides for specific exceptions. Local boards are encouraged to provide adequate days and hours in the school district's yearly calendar to avoid the necessity of a waiver request except in the most extreme circumstances.

B. Official records

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

(a) 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).

(2)(a) Computerized or manually produced records for 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) exit date; and

(iii) excused or unexcused status of absence.

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

C(1) Due to school activities requiring schedule and program modification during the first days and last days of the school year, an 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 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. Audits

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

(2) Reporting dates, forms, and procedures are found in the State of Utah Legal Compliance Audit Guide, provided to 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 in accordance with the policies and procedures established in R277-484-7 and 8 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. 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 s]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. High School Completion Status.

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)](J for those with a J-1 visa, F for all others), 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)[.];

(13) transferred to adult education (AE);

(14) transferred to higher education (HE), without first obtaining either a diploma or certificate of completion; and

(15) aged out of special education (AO).

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. 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 compelling circumstances. The time an excepted student is required to attend school shall be established by the student's IEP or SEOP.

B. Emergency/activity/weather-related exigency time shall be planned for in an LEA's annual calendaring. 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, 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 R277-419-1N, 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. Student membership for professional development or parent-teacher conference days shall be 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.

(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.

E]D. 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: [May 9, 2007]2008

Notice of Continuation: October 5, 2007

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