53A-17a-111 - Weighted pupil units for programs for students with disabilities -- District allocation.
53A-17a-111. Weighted pupil units for programs for students with disabilities --District allocation.
(1) The number of weighted pupil units for students with disabilities shall reflect thedirect cost of programs for those students conducted in accordance with rules established by theState Board of Education in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah AdministrativeRulemaking Act.
(2) Disability program monies allocated to districts are restricted and shall be spent forthe education of students with disabilities but may include expenditures for approved programsof services conducted for certified instructional personnel who have students with disabilities intheir classes.
(3) The State Board of Education shall establish and strictly interpret definitions andprovide standards for determining which students have disabilities and shall assist districts indetermining the services that should be provided to students with disabilities.
(4) Each year the board shall evaluate the standards and guidelines that establish theidentifying criteria for disability classifications to assure strict compliance with those standardsby the districts.
(5) (a) Monies appropriated to the State Board of Education for add-on WPUs forstudents with disabilities enrolled in regular programs shall be allocated to school districts asprovided in this Subsection (5).
(b) Beginning on July 1, 2003, the State Board of Education shall:
(i) use a district's average number of special education add-on weighted pupil unitsdetermined by the previous five year's average daily membership data as a foundation for thespecial education add-on appropriation; and
(ii) implement a hold harmless provision for up to three years as needed to accomplish aphase-in period for school districts to accommodate the change in the special education add-onWPUs foundation formula.
(c) A district's special education add-on WPUs for the current year may not be less thanthe foundation special education add-on WPUs.
(d) Growth WPUs shall be added to the prior year special education add-on WPUs, andgrowth WPUs shall be determined as follows:
(i) The special education student growth factor is calculated by comparing S-3 totalspecial education ADM of two years previous to the current year to the S-3 total specialeducation ADM three years previous to the current year, not to exceed the official October totaldistrict growth factor from the prior year.
(ii) When calculating and applying the growth factor, a district's S-3 total specialeducation ADM for a given year is limited to 12.18% of the district's S-3 total student ADM forthe same year.
(iii) Growth ADMs are calculated by applying the growth factor to the S-3 total specialeducation ADM of two years previous to the current year.
(iv) Growth ADMs for each district are multiplied by 1.53 weighted pupil units andadded to the prior year special education add-on WPU to determine each district's totalallocation.
(6) If monies appropriated under this chapter for programs for students with disabilitiesdo not meet the costs of districts for those programs, each district shall first receive the amountgenerated for each student with a disability under the basic program.
Amended by Chapter 3, 2010 General Session