53F-2-314. Weighted pupil units for students who are at-risk.
| (1) |
As used in this section:
Terms Used In Utah Code 53F-2-314- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- LEA governing board: means a local school board or charter school governing board. See Utah Code 53F-2-102
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
| (a) |
“At risk” means that a public education student:
| (i) |
scores below proficient on a state board or LEA approved assessment; or |
| (ii) |
meets an LEA governing board‘s approved definition of an at-risk student. |
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| (b) |
“Limited English proficiency” means that an English learner student received a score of 1-4 on an English language proficiency assessment. |
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| (2) |
| (a) |
Additional weighted pupil units for students who are at-risk are computed based on the number of students within each LEA on October 1 of the previous school year as follows, added to a base of five WPUs for each LEA:
| (i) |
for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2021:
| (A) |
for each student who is eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch, .05 additional weighted pupil units; and |
| (B) |
for each student with limited English proficiency, .025 additional weighted pupil units; and |
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| (ii) |
for each fiscal year after the fiscal year described in Subsection (2)(a)(i), the additional weighed pupil units shall increase, subject to the approval of the Executive Appropriations Committee, by amounts that the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee recommends in the subcommittee’s evaluation and recommendations described in Section 53E-1-202.2, up to:
| (A) |
for each student who is eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch, .3 total weighted pupil units; and |
| (B) |
for each student with limited English proficiency, up to .1 total weighted pupil units. |
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| (b) |
Funding for a student who falls within both Subsections (2)(a)(i)(A) and (B) shall be computed under both weighting factors. |
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| (3) |
An LEA governing board shall use money distributed under this section to improve the academic achievement of students who are at-risk. |
| (4) |
For a year in which an allocation to an LEA under this section is less than the allocation to the LEA under the Enhancement for At-Risk Students Program in the 2021 fiscal year, the Executive Appropriations Committee shall include a one-time appropriation in the public education budget to supplement the difference between the two amounts, less any amount of state guarantee money that an LEA receives under Subsection 53F-2-601(2)(a), from weighted pupil units generated in Subsection (2). |
| (5) |
| (a) |
Annually, an LEA shall provide the following information to the state board:
| (i) |
a report of the LEA’s use of funds allocated under this section through the annual financial reporting process; and |
| (ii) |
the LEA’s outcome data or a report of intervention effectiveness related to the use of the LEA’s use of funds allocated under this section. |
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| (b) |
The state board shall monitor the learning outcomes resulting from the LEA’s use of funds under this section. |
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Amended by Chapter 409, 2022 General Session
