H.B. 168 Enrolled

UNIFORM DATA COLLECTION WITHIN THE
STATE'S PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM
2000 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Lloyd W. Frandsen
Ron Bigelow
Judy Ann Buffmire
James R. Gowans
Bradley T. Johnson
Keele Johnson
Tammy J. Rowan
Lawanna Shurtliff
Matt Throckmorton

AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC EDUCATION; REQUIRING THE STATE
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION TO COLLECT AND ORGANIZE
EDUCATION DATA INTO AN AUTOMATED DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM TO
FACILITATE ACCOUNTABILITY REPORTING AND PERFORMANCE RECOGNITION,
SCHOOL DISTRICT AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING, AND THE
EVALUATION OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS; AND
PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
AMENDS:
53A-1-301, as last amended by Chapter 19, Laws of Utah 1999
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 53A-1-301 is amended to read:
53A-1-301. Appointment -- Qualifications -- Duties.
(1) (a) The State Board of Education shall appoint a superintendent of public instruction,
hereinafter called the state superintendent, who is the executive officer of the board and serves at
the pleasure of the board.
(b) The board shall appoint the state superintendent on the basis of outstanding professional
qualifications.
(c) The state superintendent shall administer all programs assigned to the State Board of
Education in accordance with the policies and the standards established by the board.
(2) The superintendent shall perform duties assigned by the board, including the following:
(a) investigating all matters pertaining to the public schools;

(b) adopting and keeping an official seal to authenticate the superintendent's official acts;
copies of authenticated documents shall be received as evidence in the courts of this state in the same
manner as originals;
(c) holding and conducting meetings, seminars, and conferences on educational topics;
(d) presenting to the governor and the Legislature each December a report of the public
school system for the preceding year to include:
(i) data on the general condition of the schools with recommendations considered desirable
for specific programs;
(ii) a complete statement of fund balances;
(iii) a complete statement of revenues by fund and source;
(iv) a complete statement of adjusted expenditures by fund, the status of bonded
indebtedness, the cost of new school plants, and school levies;
(v) a complete statement of state funds allocated to each of the state's 40 school districts by
source, including supplemental appropriations, and a complete statement of expenditures by each
district, including supplemental appropriations, by function and object as outlined in the U.S.
Department of Education publication Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems;
(vi) a statement that includes such items as fall enrollments, average membership, high school
graduates, certificated and classified employees, pupil-teacher ratios, average salaries, applicable
private school data, and data from standardized norm-referenced tests in grades 5, 8, and 11 on each
school and district;
(vii) statistical information regarding incidents of delinquent activity in the schools or at
school-related activities with separate categories for:
(A) alcohol and drug abuse;
(B) weapon possession;
(C) assaults; and
(D) arson;
(viii) a statement on the amount of class time missed by students and faculty in grades 9
through 12 for activities which occur or for which travel is required during normal class time, to

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include:
(A) the total number of individuals involved, the total amount of normal class time missed,
the total miles traveled to and from the activities, and the costs for transporting students and faculty
to and from the activities; and
(B) a breakdown of the totals under Subsection (viii)(A) by individual school district and a
breakdown of the activities by category as follows:
(I) athletic contests;
(II) music performances and contests;
(III) forensics, debate, speech, and drama performances and contests;
(IV) school club activities and contests; and
(V) all other school-sponsored activities and contests; and
(ix) other statistical and financial information about the school system which the
superintendent considers pertinent; [and]
(e) collecting and organizing education data into an automated decision support system to
facilitate school district and school improvement planning, accountability reporting and performance
recognition, and the evaluation of educational policy and program effectiveness to include:
(i) data that are:
(A) comparable across schools and school districts;
(B) appropriate for use in longitudinal studies; and
(C) comprehensive with regard to the data elements required under applicable state or federal
law or state board rule;
(ii) features that enable users, most particularly school administrators, teachers, and parents,
to:
(A) retrieve school and school district level data electronically;
(B) interpret the data visually; and
(C) draw conclusions that are statistically valid; and
(iii) procedures for the collection and management of education data that:
(A) require the state superintendent of public instruction to:

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(I) collaborate with school districts in designing and implementing uniform data standards
and definitions;
(II) undertake or sponsor research to implement improved methods for analyzing education
data;
(III) provide for data security to prevent unauthorized access to or contamination of the data;
and
(IV) protect the confidentiality of data under state and federal privacy laws; and
(B) require all school districts to comply with the data collection and management procedures
established under Subsection (2)(e); and
[(e)] (f) with the approval of the board, preparing and submitting to the governor a budget
for the board to be included in the budget that the governor submits to the Legislature.
(3) Upon leaving office, the state superintendent shall deliver to his successor all books,
records, documents, maps, reports, papers, and other articles pertaining to his office.
Section 2. Effective date.
This act takes effect on July 1, 2000.

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