R277. Education, Administration.
R277-708. Enhancement for At-Risk Students.
R277-708-1. Authority and Purpose.
(1) This rule is authorized by:
(a) Utah Constitution Article X, Section 3, which vests general control and supervision over public education in the Board;
(b) Section 53F-2-410, which directs the Board to manage the Enhancement for At-Risk Students interventions by:
(i) developing a funding formula;
(ii) developing performance criteria;
(iii) supporting LEA implementation of evidence-based interventions;
(iv) distributing the appropriation; and
(v) monitoring and reporting the effectiveness of the evidence-based interventions; and
(c) 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.
(2)(a) The purpose of this rule is to establish criteria and procedures for distributing Enhancement for At-Risk Students funds to LEAs.
(b) The intent of the rule and the legislative appropriation is to improve academic achievement of students who are at risk of academic failure.
R277-708-2. Definitions.
(1) "At-risk of academic failure" means a k-12 public school student who meets an LEA governing board's approved definition of at-risk of academic failure.
(2) "Available funds" means the total funds appropriated for the Enhancement for At-Risk Students interventions, less funding designated for gang prevention under Subsection 53F-2-410(1)(b)(i).
(3) "Chronic absenteeism" means the number of students within an LEA who:
(a) were enrolled in the LEA 60 calendar days or more; and
(b) missed 10% or more days of instruction, whether the absence was excused or not.
(4) "Homeless child" or "homeless youth" means the same as that term is defined in R277-616-2.
(5) "Homelessness" means the number of students within an LEA identified as homeless youth.
(6) "LEA governing board" means:
(a) a charter school governing board; or
(b) a district's local school board.
(7) "LEA share" means the percentage of k-12 students from an LEA who are at risk of academic failure compared to the total count for the state of Utah from the previous school year.
(8) "Limited English Proficiency" or "LEP" means the total number of English learner or "EL" students in an LEA from the October 1 count from the previous school year who received a score of 1-4 on the English language proficiency assessment.
(9) "Low performance on a statewide assessment" means the unduplicated count of k-12 students from an LEA scoring below proficient in Reading/Language, Math, and Science on a statewide assessment from the previous school year.
(10) "Mobility" means the number of k-12 students enrolled less than 160 days or its equivalent in one school within a school year, as determined by the prior year's year-end average daily membership submission.
(11) "Poverty" means the total number of k-12 students in an LEA reported as economically disadvantaged using federal child nutrition income eligibility guidelines for free or reduced-priced under the federal school lunch program from the official October 1 enrollment count from the previous school year.
(12) "Statewide assessment" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection R277-404-2(10).
(13) "Truancy" or "truant student" means a student absent without a valid excuse.
(14) "UTREx System" means the electronic data collection system used by the Superintendent 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.
(15) "Valid excuse" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-6-201.
R277-708-3. Allocation of Enhancement for At-Risk Student Funds.
(1) The Superintendent shall base an LEA's allocation on the certified data from the UTREx System using the most recent school year for which data is complete and available.
(2) The Superintendent shall use the following funding formula to determine an LEA base to distribute to LEAs:
(a) the Superintendent shall annually calculate 4% of the state appropriation of the Enhancement for At-Risk Students funding available for LEA grants to provide a base amount to LEAs.
(b) The Superintendent shall divide the base amount described in Subsection (2)(a) equally among all eligible LEAs.
(3) The Superintendent shall annually calculate 20% of the state appropriation of the Enhancement for At-Risk Students on a per school basis to provide a targeted amount to LEAs with traditional elementary schools, secondary schools, and alternative high schools with at least 75% poverty.
(4)(a) Subject to Subsection (4)(b), the Superintendent shall award remaining funds to an LEA based on the LEA's number of students who meet any of the following criteria:
(i) low performance on a Board approved assessment;
(ii) poverty;
(iii) mobility;
(iv) limited English Proficiency;
(v) chronic absenteeism; and
(vi) homelessness.
(b) When counting the number of students within an LEA who meet the criteria described in Subsection (4)(a), the Superintendent shall:
(i) for a student who meets one criterion, count the student once; and
(ii) for a student who meets more than one criterion, count the student for each criterion the student meets, up to three criteria.
(5) The Superintendent shall notify an LEA that qualifies for funding of the LEA's level of funding annually by May 1.
R277-708-4. Fiscal Procedures.
