1     
DROPOUT PREVENTION AMENDMENTS

2     
2020 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Dan N. Johnson

5     
Senate Sponsor: Lyle W. Hillyard

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill provides additional exceptions to the requirement for certain schools to enter
10     into a third party contract for dropout prevention services.
11     Highlighted Provisions:
12          This bill:
13          ▸     provides additional exceptions to the requirement for certain schools to enter into a
14     third party contract for dropout prevention services.
15     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
16          None
17     Other Special Clauses:
18          None
19     Utah Code Sections Affected:
20     AMENDS:
21          53G-9-802, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapters 293, 324, and 325
22     

23     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
24          Section 1. Section 53G-9-802 is amended to read:
25          53G-9-802. Dropout prevention and recovery -- Flexible enrollment options --
26     Contracting -- Reporting.
27          (1) (a) Subject to Subsection (1)(b), an LEA shall provide dropout prevention and

28     recovery services to a designated student, including:
29          (i) engaging with or attempting to recover a designated student;
30          (ii) developing a learning plan, in consultation with a designated student, to identify:
31          (A) barriers to regular school attendance and achievement;
32          (B) an attainment goal; and
33          (C) a means for achieving the attainment goal through enrollment in one or more of the
34     programs described in Subsection (2);
35          (iii) monitoring a designated student's progress toward reaching the designated
36     student's attainment goal; and
37          (iv) providing tiered interventions for a designated student who is not making progress
38     toward reaching the student's attainment goal.
39          (b) An LEA shall provide the dropout prevention and recovery services described in
40     Subsection (1)(a):
41          (i) throughout the calendar year; and
42          (ii) except as provided in Subsection (1)(c)(i), for each designated student who
43     becomes a designated student while enrolled in the LEA.
44          (c) (i) A designated student's school district of residence shall provide dropout recovery
45     services if the designated student:
46          (A) was enrolled in a charter school that does not include grade 12; and
47          (B) becomes a designated student in the summer after the student completes academic
48     instruction at the charter school through the maximum grade level the charter school is eligible
49     to serve under the charter school's charter agreement as described in Section 53G-5-303.
50          (ii) In accordance with Subsection (1)(c)(iii), a charter school that does not include
51     grade 12 shall notify each of the charter school's student's district of residence, as determined
52     under Section 53G-6-302, when the student completes academic instruction at the charter
53     school as described in Subsection (1)(c)(i)(B).
54          (iii) The notification described in Subsection (1)(c)(ii) shall include the student's name,
55     contact information, and student identification number.
56          (2) (a) An LEA shall provide flexible enrollment options for a designated student that:
57          (i) are tailored to the designated student's learning plan developed under Subsection
58     (1)(a)(ii); and

59          (ii) include two or more of the following:
60          (A) enrollment in the LEA in a traditional program;
61          (B) enrollment in the LEA in a nontraditional program;
62          (C) enrollment in a program offered by a private provider that has entered into a
63     contract with the LEA to provide educational services; or
64          (D) enrollment in a program offered by another LEA.
65          (b) A designated student may enroll in:
66          (i) a program offered by the LEA under Subsection (2)(a), in accordance with this
67     public education code, rules established by the state board, and policies established by the
68     LEA; or
69          (ii) the Statewide Online Education Program, in accordance with Title 53F, Chapter 4,
70     Part 5, Statewide Online Education Program.
71          (c) An LEA shall make the LEA's best effort to accommodate a designated student's
72     choice of enrollment under Subsection (2)(b).
73          (3) Beginning with the 2017-18 school year and except as provided in Subsection (4),
74     an LEA shall enter into a contract with a third party to provide the dropout prevention and
75     recovery services described in Subsection (1)(a) for any school year in which the LEA meets
76     the following criteria:
77          (a) the LEA's graduation rate is lower than the statewide graduation rate; and
78          (b) (i) the LEA's graduation rate has not increased by at least 1% on average over the
79     previous three school years; or
80          (ii) during the previous calendar year, at least 10% of the LEA's designated students
81     have not:
82          (A) reached the students' attainment goals; or
83          (B) made a year's worth of progress toward the students' attainment goals.
84          (4) An LEA [that is in the LEA's first three years of operation] is not subject to the
85     requirement described in Subsection (3)[.] if:
86          (a) the LEA is in the LEA's first three years of operation;
87          (b) the LEA's average graduation rate for the previous three years is higher than the
88     average statewide graduation rate for the previous three years;
89          (c) the LEA is a special school as that term is used in 34 C.F.R. 300.115; or

90          (d) the quotient of the total number of an LEA's graduating students plus 10, divided by
91     the total number of students in an LEA's graduating class, is equal to or greater than the
92     statewide graduation rate.
93          (5) An LEA described in Subsection (3) shall ensure that:
94          (a) a third party with whom the LEA enters into a contract under Subsection (3) has a
95     demonstrated record of effectiveness engaging with and recovering designated students; and
96          (b) a contract with a third party requires the third party to:
97          (i) provide the services described in Subsection (1)(a); and
98          (ii) regularly report progress to the LEA.
99          (6) An LEA shall annually submit a report to the state board on dropout prevention and
100     recovery services provided under this section, including:
101          (a) the methods the LEA or third party uses to engage with or attempt to recover
102     designated students under Subsection (1)(a)(i);
103          (b) the number of designated students who enroll in a program described in Subsection
104     (2) as a result of the efforts described in Subsection (6)(a);
105          (c) the number of designated students who reach the designated students' attainment
106     goals identified under Subsection (1)(a)(ii)(B); and
107          (d) funding allocated to provide dropout prevention and recovery services.
108          (7) The state board shall:
109          (a) ensure that an LEA described in Subsection (3) contracts with a third party to
110     provide dropout prevention and recovery services in accordance with Subsections (3) and (5);
111     and
112          (b) report on the provisions of this section in accordance with Section 53E-1-203,
113     including a summary of the reports submitted under Subsection (6).