Compendium of Budget Information for the 2009 General Session

Public Education
Appropriations Subcommittee
Subcommittee Table of Contents

Agency: State Board of Education

Line Item: Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind

Function

The Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB) were established in 1896 to meet the educational needs of children with hearing or vision impairments. USDB's mission is to 'provide high quality direct and indirect education services to children with sensory impairments from birth through 21 years of age and their families in Utah.'

USDB helps children with hearing and/or visual impairments to become competent, caring and contributing citizens. They operate an educational resource center that supplies educational materials to other agencies serving sensory impaired children. Annually, the USDB provides educational services to approximately 1,600 Utah students through three major programs. These programs include a residential program, self-contained classrooms, and a student consultant program.

The Utah State Board of Education is designated in statute as USDB's governing body. In addition to the State Board of Education, the USDB Institutional Council acts as an advisory panel to the State Board of Education, the State Superintendent, and the USDB Superintendent. The role of the USDB Institutional Council is outlined in the following section. USDB and the USDB Institutional Council are held as their own separate line items.

Statutory Authority

Utah code details statutory authority for Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Section 53A, Chapter 25. The following references represent broad statutory segments dealing with the deaf school, blind school and the Institutional Council:

  • UCA 53A-25-101 et. seq. - Sections 101-111 Details the creation of the School for the Deaf, qualifications for students to enter the deaf school, and the qualities and duties of the school superintendent.
  • UCA 53A-25-201 et. seq. - Sections 201-206 Details the creation of the Blind School. As with the deaf school, statute defines qualifications for students and governance.
  • UCA 53A-25-301 et. seq. - Sections 301-306 Establishes the USDB Institutional Council and also details the appointment and duties of Council members.

Funding Detail

The following table provides a five-year budget history for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. The Uniform School Fund provides the largest source of revenue for USDB. Uniform School Fund revenue contributes more than 83% of the total revenue used to support USDB.

Over the past 5 years, USDB has benefited from a steady and increasing USF appropriation. The remaining revenue supporting USDB comes from dedicated credits generated through contracted services. A significant portion of USDB revenue is transferred from other agencies such as USOE, the Child Nutrition Program, or the Department of Health.

Sources of Finance
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Uniform School Fund $18,996,400 $20,256,400 $21,992,200 $23,537,900 $23,649,700
Uniform School Fund, One-time $170,200 $0 $132,700 $0 $1,501,500
Federal Funds ($160,500) $119,300 $181,800 $123,700 $184,700
Dedicated Credits Revenue $559,800 $704,900 $526,900 $542,100 $735,400
Transfers $3,394,600 $745,600 $3,673,400 $4,255,300 $4,064,000
Transfers - Child Nutrition $0 ($394,600) $0 $0 $0
Transfers - Health $0 $2,224,800 $0 $0 $0
Transfers - Interagency $0 $385,200 $0 $0 $0
Transfers - State Office of Education $0 $1,165,900 $0 $0 $0
Beginning Nonlapsing $628,500 $360,800 $786,900 $836,500 $0
Closing Nonlapsing ($173,500) ($786,900) ($836,500) ($768,600) $0
Total
$23,415,500
$24,781,400
$26,457,400
$28,526,900
$30,135,300
 
Programs:
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Instructional Services $12,466,100 $13,222,800 $14,972,100 $16,726,800 $17,809,300
Support Services $10,949,400 $11,558,600 $11,485,300 $11,800,100 $12,326,000
Total
$23,415,500
$24,781,400
$26,457,400
$28,526,900
$30,135,300
 
Categories of Expenditure
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Personal Services $17,600,600 $18,747,000 $20,084,600 $22,049,100 $23,393,000
In-State Travel $358,100 $465,000 $440,100 $470,300 $390,200
Out of State Travel $38,900 $35,300 $69,500 $85,200 $36,600
Current Expense $4,628,400 $5,213,000 $5,446,300 $5,644,700 $6,130,600
DP Current Expense $171,100 $300,500 $337,200 $255,100 $171,900
DP Capital Outlay $608,200 ($56,400) $36,100 $0 $0
Capital Outlay $10,200 $11,000 $43,600 $22,500 $13,000
Other Charges/Pass Thru $0 $66,000 $0 $0 $0
Total
$23,415,500
$24,781,400
$26,457,400
$28,526,900
$30,135,300
 
Other Indicators
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Budgeted FTE 372.0 381.5 371.3 371.0 400.2
Vehicles 34 62 62 62 62






Subcommittee Table of Contents

Program: Instructional Services

Function

The Instructional Services division provides educational programs for the deaf, blind, and deaf-blind children of Utah. It provides residential, daytime, and extension programs in a number of locations throughout the state. The following explanations detail significant programs within the division of Instruction. All programs are geared toward meeting the instructional and educational needs of students served by USDB.

Teacher Consultant Program - The Teacher Consultant Program provides regular classroom teachers in the school districts with assistance on how to best meet the educational needs of hearing or visually impaired students.

Educational Resource Center - The Educational Resource Center provides materials and equipment to every instructional program throughout the state that has a hearing or visually impaired student. Services include: captioned films for the hearing impaired; Braille, large print, and recorded materials; a professional book collection related to sensory impairment; a parent resource library; a textbook depository; visual aids and teaching aids that support the curriculum; and books for recreational reading at appropriate reading levels.

Parent Infant Program - The Parent Infant Program provides home based vision and hearing services to families with children who are sensory impaired from birth through three years of age.

Deafblind Services - USDB provides services to individuals with dual sensory impairments from birth through age 21. Consultants provide services statewide. Services include, but are not limited to, training, technical assistance, mentoring, teaching and interacting techniques, curricula and learning environment modifications and adaptations, the use of appropriate communication systems, etc.

Self-Contained Classrooms & Consultant Services - In addition to the programs detailed above, USDB operates many self-contained classrooms throughout the state. USDB also provides consultant services to deaf, blind or deaf-blind students who remain in their local school districts for their education. The self-contained and consultant services represent the largest portion of USDB operations. USDB established geographical service regions (North, Central, and South) for the school for the deaf and school for the blind.

Utah State Instructional Materials Access Center (USIMAC) - USIMAC is a state extension service of the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), which was created under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act in 2004. NIMAC is a federally-funded, national electronic file repository that makes National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) files available for the production of core print instructional materials in specialized formats. These formats, such as braille, audio, or digital text, are developed on behalf of qualifying blind, visually-impaired or print-disabled students in elementary or secondary schools. NIMAC receives source files in NIMAS format from textbook publishers, and makes these files available for download to authorized users. USIMAC has been designated as the authorized user for the State of Utah and it is funded through the USDB line-item. An important note by NIMAS regarding these source files is that they are not student-ready files that can be handed off directly to a student in the classroom. In order to create the braille, audio, digital text, or other format, appropriate technology and training are necessary to convert files into the finished product. USIMAC has been created within the State of Utah in order to fulfill this federal requirement. USIMAC was first funded in the 2008 General Session.

General services provided by USDB include early detection and diagnosis, family support and intervention, core curriculum, additional and adapted core subjects, and transition services for those students progressing to higher education institutions.

Funding Detail

The budget detail table below shows a five-year budget history for the Instructional Services division. The Uniform School Fund provides more than 94% of the division's budget. Instructional services is a very labor intensive division, over 97% of the division's budget supports employee salaries and benefits.

The increase in Uniform School Funds appropriated to the USDB-Instructional Services line-item largely represents a revenue transfer from the Minimum School Program to USDB. This transfer represents the state revenue received by the Jean Massieu Charter School through the MSP. The revenue was transferred to facilitate the merger of Jean Massieu with the USDB. The FY 2006 FTE count reflects the transfer of Jean Massieu teachers to the USDB.

Sources of Finance
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Uniform School Fund $11,482,700 $12,374,600 $14,278,800 $15,076,400 $15,715,600
Uniform School Fund, One-time $123,600 $0 $150,300 $0 $731,500
Federal Funds ($187,300) $69,600 $107,400 $77,800 $105,000
Dedicated Credits Revenue $251,700 $310,600 $294,200 $514,400 $708,200
Transfers $795,400 $340,000 $471,800 $671,200 $549,000
Transfers - Health $0 $116,900 $0 $0 $0
Transfers - Interagency $0 $27,200 $0 $0 $0
Transfers - State Office of Education $0 $540,700 $0 $0 $0
Beginning Nonlapsing $0 $10,600 $56,600 $387,000 $0
Closing Nonlapsing $0 ($567,400) ($387,000) $0 $0
Total
$12,466,100
$13,222,800
$14,972,100
$16,726,800
$17,809,300
 
Categories of Expenditure
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Personal Services $11,854,200 $12,515,900 $14,194,500 $15,882,700 $17,155,400
In-State Travel $207,000 $208,500 $232,800 $280,600 $187,200
Out of State Travel $19,000 $5,700 $9,300 $5,800 $3,600
Current Expense $377,000 $482,200 $521,900 $543,800 $458,900
DP Current Expense $8,900 $10,500 $13,600 $13,900 $4,200
Total
$12,466,100
$13,222,800
$14,972,100
$16,726,800
$17,809,300
 
Other Indicators
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Budgeted FTE 257.0 247.6 257.3 263.0 289.5






Subcommittee Table of Contents

Program: Support Services

Function

The Support Services Division provides functions of USDB related to Administration, Educational Support, Residential Care Oversight, and Transportation. The following paragraphs detail each of the major operating sections of support services:

Administration - USDB administration executes the schools' business management (coordinated through the state office of education), personnel services, and data processing functions.

Educational Support - Educational Support includes professional staff that support the educational goals of students as outlined in their Individual Education Plans (IEP). These professionals include audiologists, orientation and mobility specialists, physical therapists, and psychologists.

Resident Services - In some cases, a student's IEP indicates that educational goals may be better fulfilled in a residential program. USDB supports four residential cottages (which hold 12 students) and two housing units that hold up to 18 students. Students reside at the school during the week and return home for the weekend.

Transportation - Students that receive educational services in a USDB self-contained classroom are bussed from home to the location of their school each day. The Support Services division provides coordination between the student's residence and the closest classroom based on disability and classroom capacity. In addition, the division may coordinate the transportation of residential students on the weekends.

Other Support Services - In addition to those services mentioned above, USDB has staff to provide food services at school and in the residential facilities, as well as staff to perform building and ground maintenance.

Funding Detail

Support Services receives the majority of its revenue from the Uniform School Fund. Over 67% of the Support Services budget comes from the USF. The remaining revenue is generated through dedicated credits and transfers from other agencies. The division collects dedicated credits primarily through contracted services, training fees, bookstore/canteen sales, and other small sources. Support Services also receives federal fund transfers from USOE, Child Nutrition Program, and the Department of Health. From FY 2005 to FY 2006, USDB had an increase in 28 vehicles due to a consolidation of fleets from Department of Administrative Services.

The following table provides the five-year budget history for the Support Services division.

Sources of Finance
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Uniform School Fund $7,513,700 $7,881,800 $7,713,400 $8,461,500 $7,934,100
Uniform School Fund, One-time $46,600 $0 ($17,600) $0 $770,000
Federal Funds $26,800 $49,700 $74,400 $45,900 $79,700
Dedicated Credits Revenue $308,100 $394,300 $232,700 $27,700 $27,200
Transfers $2,599,200 $405,600 $3,201,600 $3,584,100 $3,515,000
Transfers - Child Nutrition $0 ($394,600) $0 $0 $0
Transfers - Health $0 $2,107,900 $0 $0 $0
Transfers - Interagency $0 $358,000 $0 $0 $0
Transfers - State Office of Education $0 $625,200 $0 $0 $0
Beginning Nonlapsing $628,500 $350,200 $730,300 $449,500 $0
Closing Nonlapsing ($173,500) ($219,500) ($449,500) ($768,600) $0
Total
$10,949,400
$11,558,600
$11,485,300
$11,800,100
$12,326,000
 
Categories of Expenditure
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Personal Services $5,746,400 $6,231,100 $5,890,100 $6,166,400 $6,237,600
In-State Travel $151,100 $256,500 $207,300 $189,700 $203,000
Out of State Travel $19,900 $29,600 $60,200 $79,400 $33,000
Current Expense $4,251,400 $4,730,800 $4,924,400 $5,100,900 $5,671,700
DP Current Expense $162,200 $290,000 $323,600 $241,200 $167,700
DP Capital Outlay $608,200 ($56,400) $36,100 $0 $0
Capital Outlay $10,200 $11,000 $43,600 $22,500 $13,000
Other Charges/Pass Thru $0 $66,000 $0 $0 $0
Total
$10,949,400
$11,558,600
$11,485,300
$11,800,100
$12,326,000
 
Other Indicators
2005
Actual
2006
Actual
2007
Actual
2008
Actual
2009
Approp
Budgeted FTE 115.0 133.9 114.0 108.0 110.7
Vehicles 34 62 62 62 62






Subcommittee Table of Contents