R277-421. Out-of-State Tuition Reimbursement

R277.  Education, Administration.

R277-421.  Out-of-State Tuition Reimbursement.

R277-421-1.  Authority and Purpose.

          (1)  This rule is authorized by:

          (a)  Utah Constitution Article X, Section 3, which vests general control and supervision over public education in the Board;

          (b)  Subsection 53E-3-401(4), which allows the Board to make rules to execute the Board's duties and responsibilities under the Utah Constitution and state law; and

          (c)  Section 53G-6-305, which outlines when a school district may pay out-of-state tuition for a resident student to attend a school district out-of-state.

          (2)  The purpose of this rule is to establish procedures for:

          (a)  obtaining Board approval for reimbursement of out-of-state tuition expenses;

          (b)  calculating reimbursement costs; and

          (c)  recording out-of-state students in district records.

R277-421-2.  Definitions.

          (1)  "ADM" means average daily membership.

          (2)  "Minimum school program" or "MSP" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53F-2-102.

          (3)  "NESS" means the Necessarily Existent Small Schools Fund.

          (4)  "Utah eTranscript and Records Exchange" or "UTREx" means a system that allows individual detailed student records to be exchanged electronically between public education districts and the Superintendent, and allows electronic transcripts to be sent to any post-secondary institution, private or public, in-state or out-of-state, that participates in the e-transcript service.

          (5)  "WPU" means the weighted pupil unit.

R277-421-3.  Review of Out-of-State Tuition Agreements.

          (1)  A district shall submit to the Superintendent an agreement to pay tuition to an out-of-state district in accordance with Subsection 53G-6-305(1) by June 30.

          (2)  A district requesting reimbursement for excess tuition costs under Subsection 53G-6-305(3) shall submit a request to the Superintendent by June 30 including:

          (a)  an estimate of ADM for out-of-state students for the upcoming school year; and

          (b)  an estimate of tuition payment amounts for the upcoming school year.

          (3)(a)  The Superintendent shall review a request submitted under Subsection (2) no later than August 30.

          (b)  The Superintendent may deny a request submitted under Subsection (2) if there are insufficient funds to cover the reimbursement.

R277-421-4.  Calculation of Out-of-State Tuition Reimbursement.

          (1)  The Superintendent shall calculate out-of-state reimbursement to a district by subtracting state funds that are calculated based on the WPU generated by an out-of-state resident student's ADM from the total tuition payment per student:

          (a)  Kindergarten WPU;

          (b)  Grade 1-12 WPU;

          (c)  Professional Staff Costs;

          (d)  NESS;

          (e)  District Administrative Costs;

          (f)  Class-Size Reduction;

          (g)  Flexible Allocation;

          (h)  Gifted and Talented program;

          (i)  K-3 Reading Improvement program;

          (j)  Voted and Board Local Levy Guarantee programs; and

          (k)  Applicable Special Education programs.

          (2)  A district shall not include out-of-state tuition payments in any other MSP formula.

          (3)  The Superintendent may include in a calculation under Subsection (1) mileage costs reimbursed by a district to parents for transporting students to the nearest bus stop in accordance with Section R277-600-7.

          (4)  The Superintendent shall reserve the estimated funds identified by a district under Subsection R277-421-3(2)(a) from the new year NESS appropriation, and pay Board-authorized reimbursement payments from reserved funds.

R277-421-5.  Recording Student Membership for Out-of-State Students.

          (1)  A district shall record student membership for students receiving out-of-state tuition reimbursement in accordance with District enrollment and membership policies.

          (2)  A district shall report students in UTREx for whom they are paying out-of-state tuition using codes identified by the Superintendent.

          (3)  A district shall report ADM for students attending school out-of-state pursuant to a tuition agreement under Section 53G-6-305 in the same manner as the district calculates ADM for students attending the district's schools.

KEY:  out-of-state, tuition, reimbursements

Date of Last Change:  December 9, 2021

Notice of Continuation:  October 7, 2021

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law:  Art X Sec 3; 53E-3-401(4); 53G-6-305

Status of Rule

Effective December 9, 2021

Five-year review October 7, 2026

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Oversight Framework

Uncategorized

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Related Utah Law

Public Education Statutes
53F-2-304

53G-6-305

Other Statutes
None

USBE Administrative Rules
R277-100, Definitions for USBE Rules

R277-445, Classifying Small Schools as Necessarily Existent

R277-600, Student Transportation Standards and Procedures

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Related Federal Law

None

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Resources

None

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Contact Information

Primary Contact:
Dale Frost
dale.frost@schools.utah.gov
Financial Operations

Secondary Contact:
Sam Urie
sam.urie@schools.utah.gov
Financial Operations

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2024.

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NOTE: The information on this webpage is provided as a service to users and the Utah State Board of Education is not responsible for any errors or omissions.

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