State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Utah > Title-53a > Chapter-17a > 53a-17a-10953A-17a-109. Necessarily existent small schools -- Computing additional weightedpupil units -- Consolidation of small schools.
(1) Upon application by each school district, the State Board of Education shall, inconsultation with local school boards, classify particular schools in each district as necessarilyexistent small schools.
(a) Applications must be submitted to the state board before April 2, and the board mustreport a decision to each school district before June 2.
(b) The state board shall adopt standards and make rules to:
(i) govern the approval of these schools consistent with principles of efficiency andeconomy and which shall serve the purpose of eliminating schools where consolidation isfeasible by participation in special school units; and
(ii) ensure that districts are not building secondary schools in close proximity to oneanother where economy and efficiency would be better served by one school meeting the needsof secondary students in a designated geographical area.
(c) A one or two-year secondary school that has received necessarily existent smallschool money under this section prior to July 1, 2000, may continue to receive such money insubsequent years under state board rule.
(2) The state board shall prepare and publish objective standards and guidelines fordetermining which small schools are necessarily existent after consultation with local schoolboards.
(3) The additional units for schools classified as necessarily existent small schools arecomputed using regression formulas adopted by the state board.
(a) The regression formulas establish the following maximum sizes for funding under thenecessarily existent small school program:
(i) Elementary 160
(ii) One or two-year secondary 300
(iii) Three-year secondary 450
(iv) Four-year secondary school 500
(v) Six-year secondary school 600
(b) Schools with fewer than 10 students shall receive the same add-on weighted pupilunits as schools with 10 students.
(c) The state board shall prepare and distribute an allocation table based on the regressionformula to each school district.
(4) (a) To avoid penalizing a district financially for consolidating its small schools,additional units may be allowed a district each year, not to exceed two years.
(b) The units may not exceed the difference between what the district receives for aconsolidated school and what it would have received for the small schools had they not beenconsolidated.
(c) A district may use the money allocated under this subsection for maintenance andoperation of school programs or for other school purposes as approved by the state board.
Amended by Chapter 221, 2003 General Session
