FY 2016 Appropriation

The Special Education -- Pre-School Program provides educational services to children with disabilities who are three to five years of age. Since 1992, Federal law (Public Law 99-457) requires that children with disabilities ages three to five years receive an appropriate free public education.

Formula -- Program WPUs equal "special education preschool enrollment (aged 3 through 5 excluding 5-year-old special education students enrolled in Kindergarten) as of December 1" (USOE Finance & Statistics, MSP Descriptions, November 2006). The program formula provides a weighting factor of 1.47 of the value of the WPU for each student enrolled in the preschool program. Growth is defined as the actual increase in the number of children, age three through preschool aged five, reported on December 1st child counts.

Formula Restrictions -- The formula excludes children served by the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. Student growth in the preschool program cannot exceed eight percent annually. This eight percent growth cap is used in the formula for budget requests and distributing program funding. If this growth is not realized, the budget request is reduced to equal actual growth.

Funding History

Funding Issues

Enrollment Growth

Total enrollment in the public education system is projected to increase by 7,951 students in FY 2016, with a total enrollment of 630,104. Additional students in the system increases the cost to certain programs as designated by statute or legislative precedent. Adjustments are made in the following programs based on consensus enrollment and WPU estimates: Basic School Program: $24,284,600 Funds an additional 8,380 WPUs in FY 2016. Related to Basic School Program: $10,698,800 Provides a 1.3% increase to the following programs: Pupil Transportation, Enhancement for At-Risk Students, Youth-in-Custody, Adult Education, Enhancement for Accelerated Students, and Concurrent Enrollment. Provides an increase of $4,459,600 to the Local Replacement and $83,200 to the Administrative Cost programs for charter schools. Finally, increases th eamount for the Educator Salary Adjustment by $3,429,500 to account for additional teachers hired by LEAs in fall 2014. Voted & Board Local Levy: $23,023,600 Adjusts funding levels to provide the state guarante rate for all qualifying WPUs. Increases the state guarantee rate as provided in statute from $27.92 per WPU to $30.11 per WPU. The total local property tax revenue contribution to the cost of the Basic School Program is expected to increase by $8,462,600 in FY 2016. This amount works as an off-set to the total increased cost of the Basic School Program above.
Appropriation Overview

During the 2015 General Session, the Legislature appropriated for Fiscal Year 2016, $30,542,800 from all sources for Special Education - Preschool. This is a 5.4 percent increase from Fiscal Year 2015 revised estimated amounts from all sources. The total includes $30,542,800 from the General/Education Funds, an increase of 5.4 percent from revised Fiscal Year 2015 estimates.

Appropriation Adjustments

In addition to statewide compensation and internal service fund cost increases, the following appropriation adjustments were made during the 2015 General Session:

DescriptionOngoingOne-Time Enrollment Growth$371,500$0
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$371,500$0Education Fund
Total enrollment in the public education system is projected to increase by 7,951 students in FY 2016, with a total enrollment of 630,104. Additional students in the system increases the cost to certain programs as designated by statute or legislative precedent. Adjustments are made in the following programs based on consensus enrollment and WPU estimates: Basic School Program: $24,284,600 Funds an additional 8,380 WPUs in FY 2016. Related to Basic School Program: $10,698,800 Provides a 1.3% increase to the following programs: Pupil Transportation, Enhancement for At-Risk Students, Youth-in-Custody, Adult Education, Enhancement for Accelerated Students, and Concurrent Enrollment. Provides an increase of $4,459,600 to the Local Replacement and $83,200 to the Administrative Cost programs for charter schools. Finally, increases th eamount for the Educator Salary Adjustment by $3,429,500 to account for additional teachers hired by LEAs in fall 2014. Voted & Board Local Levy: $23,023,600 Adjusts funding levels to provide the state guarante rate for all qualifying WPUs. Increases the state guarantee rate as provided in statute from $27.92 per WPU to $30.11 per WPU. The total local property tax revenue contribution to the cost of the Basic School Program is expected to increase by $8,462,600 in FY 2016. This amount works as an off-set to the total increased cost of the Basic School Program above.
WPU Value Increase (4%)$1,185,400$0
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$1,185,400$0Education Fund
It costs approximately $26 million for each 1 percent increase or decrease in the WPU Value. Programs impacted include: The Basic School Program (all WPUs), Pupil Transportation, Concurrent Enrollment, Enhancement for At-Risk Students, Youth-in-Custody, Enhancement for Accelerated Students in the Related to Basic School Program.
Statute

The Special Education Preschool Program is governed by the following statutes.

  • UCA 53A-17a-112 -- establishes the requirement for the allocation of program funds, determining WPUs and provides for the formula restrictions mentioned above.

Intent Language

HB0002: Item 1

The Legislature intends that the State Board of Education develop minimum program standards, including maximum class size limits in grades K-3, that local education agencies must meet in order to continue to receive Class Size Reduction funding. Including an estimate of the cost necessary to limit class sizes in grades K-3, without impacting class sizes in grades 4-12. The Legislature also intends that the State Board of Education report these standards and estimated costs to the Education Interim Committee and the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee by October 31, 2015.

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COBI contains unaudited data as presented to the Legislature by state agencies at the time of publication. For audited financial data see the State of Utah's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports.