Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 105 (2021GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Judkins, M.

Final action

House/ filed 3/5/2021

Outcome

Failed / filed without passage

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• amends a formula related to add-on weighted pupil units for students with disabilities; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Marsha Judkins
Senate Sponsor: 
 Michael S. Kennedy
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends a formula related to add-on weighted pupil units for students with
disabilities.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ amends a formula related to add-on weighted pupil units for students with
disabilities; and
▸ makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53F-2-307
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 408
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
53F-2-307
 is amended to read:
53F-2-307.
Weighted pupil units for programs for students with disabilities --
Local school board allocation.
(1) The number of weighted pupil units for students with disabilities shall reflect the
direct cost of programs for those students conducted in accordance with rules established by the
state board in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.
(2) Disability program money allocated to school districts or charter schools is
restricted and shall be spent for the education of students with disabilities but may include
expenditures for approved programs of services conducted for certified instructional personnel
who have students with disabilities in their classes.
(3) The state board shall establish and strictly interpret definitions and provide
standards for determining which students have disabilities and shall assist school districts and
charter schools in determining the services that should be provided to students with disabilities.
(4) Each year the state board shall evaluate the standards and guidelines that establish
the identifying criteria for disability classifications to assure strict compliance with those
standards by the school districts and charter schools.
(5) (a) Money appropriated to the state board for add-on WPUs for students with
disabilities enrolled in regular programs shall be allocated to school districts and charter
schools as provided in this Subsection (5).
(b) The state board shall use a school district's or charter school's average number of
special education add-on weighted pupil units determined by [
the previous five year's
] 
the prior
year's average daily membership plus growth and the preceding four years'
 average daily
membership data as a foundation for the special education add-on appropriation.
(c) The growth factor described in Subsection (5)(b) is the percentage change in total
enrollment of kindergarten through grade 12 students on the first school day of October in the
current school year as compared to the total enrollment of kindergarten through grade 12
students on the first school day of October in the previous school year.
[
(c)
] 
(d)
 A school district's or charter school's special education add-on WPUs for the
current year may not be less than the foundation special education add-on WPUs 
described in
Subsection (5)(b)
.
[
(d)
] 
(e)
 Growth WPUs shall be added to the prior year special education add-on
WPUs, and growth WPUs shall be determined as follows:
(i) The special education student growth factor is calculated by comparing S-3 total
special education [
ADM of two years
] 
average daily membership of one year
 previous to the
current year to the S-3 total special education [
ADM three
] 
average daily membership two
years previous to the current year, not to exceed the official October total school district 
or
charter school
 growth factor from the prior year.
(ii) When calculating and applying the growth factor, a school district's S-3 total
special education ADM for a given year is limited to [
12.18%
] 
the following percentage
 of the
school district's S-3 total student ADM for the same year[
.
]
:
(A) for a school district in a county of the first, second, or third class, 14%; and
(B) for a school district in a county of the fourth, fifth, or sixth class, 20%.
(iii) Growth ADMs are calculated by applying the growth factor to the S-3 total special
education [
ADM of two years
] 
average daily membership of one year
 previous to the current
year.
(iv) Growth ADMs for each school district or each charter school are multiplied by
1.53 weighted pupil units and added to the prior year special education add-on WPU to
determine each school district's or each charter school's total allocation.
(6) If money appropriated under this chapter for programs for students with disabilities
does not meet the costs of school districts and charter schools for those programs, each school
district and each charter school shall first receive the amount generated for each student with a
disability under the basic program.