Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 113 First Substitute (2022GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Judkins, M.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/23/2022

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• requires the State Board of Education (state board) to:
• annually review standards and guidelines related to establishing disability classifications; and
• ensure the standards and guidelines provide school districts and charter schools flexibility to respond to the needs of students with disabilities;
• permits disability program money to be used for facilities construction and alteration under certain circumstances;
• amends a formula related to add-on weighted pupil units for students with disabilities;
• defines terms; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES FUNDING REVISIONS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Marsha Judkins
Senate Sponsor: 
Lincoln Fillmore
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill makes changes to provisions related to funding for students with disabilities.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ requires the State Board of Education (state board) to:
• annually review standards and guidelines related to establishing disability
classifications; and
• ensure the standards and guidelines provide school districts and charter schools
flexibility to respond to the needs of students with disabilities;
▸ permits disability program money to be used for facilities construction and
alteration under certain circumstances;
▸ amends a formula related to add-on weighted pupil units for students with
disabilities;
▸ defines terms; and
▸ makes technical and conforming 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) As used in this section:
(a) "Necessary cost" means a cost that is needed to provide special education and
related services to students with disabilities.
(b) "Reasonable cost" means a cost that, in nature and amount, does not exceed an
amount that a prudent person would incur under the circumstances prevailing at the time the
decision was made to incur the cost.
[
(1)
] 
(2)
 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)
] 
(3)
 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
]
.
(4) Notwithstanding Subsection (3), disability program money allocated to school
districts or charter schools may be expended for:
(a)
 approved programs of services conducted for certified instructional personnel who
have students with disabilities in their classes[
.
]
; or
(b) constructing facilities or altering existing facilities if:
(i) the costs are necessary costs and reasonable costs;
(ii) the costs are not for the general purpose of bringing facilities into compliance with:
(A) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; or
(B) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.;
(iii) the construction or alteration meets the needs of one or more students with
disabilities; and
(iv) the state board approves the expenditure in accordance with rules the state board
makes in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.
[
(3)
] 
(5)
 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
]
(6) The state board shall annually evaluate, and amend as needed,
 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.
] 
ensure that school
districts and charter schools:
(a) comply with the standards and guidelines; and
(b) have flexibility to respond to the needs of students with disabilities.
[
(5)
] 
(7)
 (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)
] 
(7)
.
(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 (7)(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 (7)(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
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
] 
the following
 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[
.
]
:
(A) for fiscal year 2023, 1.35 weighted pupil units;
(B) for fiscal year 2024, 1.15 weighted pupil units; and
(C) beginning in fiscal year 2025, and every fiscal year thereafter, 1.00 weighted pupil
units.
[
(6)
] 
(8)
 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.