Committee repeals contractor rule and forwards SOEP rule; public raises notice and parity concerns

The finance committee on April 3 voted to repeal R277-725, the rule governing statewide online education program (SOEP) contractor requirements, and to approve R277-726 on first reading, forwarding it to the full board for second and final reading.

Director of Law and Professional Practices Ben Rasmussen told the committee that recent legislation (Senate Bill 137) altered how the board should manage SOEP contractors and that the staff recommendation was to repeal the contractor rule because the statute now directs contractor management outside the rule.

Separately, staff presented proposed amendments to R277-726, the rule that implements program requirements for the statewide online education program. Quinn Kellis, the SOEP lead administrator, and other staff described additions including a requirement that providers give parents notice when course material could include age-appropriate “mature” content, and added reporting and data-system parity measures to align SEATs (the student enrollment system) and other systems.

Public comment and concerns: Rose Van Tassel, executive director of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, thanked staff for engagement on the draft but flagged a provision that requires SOEP providers to post age-appropriate notices for certain course content; Van Tassel questioned why the notice would apply only to SOEP providers and not to all LEAs offering the same courses. SOEP staff said the provision was added because SOEP commonly offers concurrent enrollment and college-level content that parents may want to review.

Staff also discussed a large revision to the rule’s formula for targeting funds to small high schools, put in place to prioritize limited appropriations toward schools with the greatest difficulty offering courses as spelled out in SB137.

Votes and next steps: The committee moved to repeal R277-725 on first reading and recommended repeal on second and final reading; the motion passed unanimously. The committee then approved R277-726 on first reading and forwarded it to the full board for second and final reading; that motion also passed unanimously. Staff said they will continue work on vendor integrations and final rule language ahead of board-level review.

Background: The changes reflect 2025 session legislation, including SB137, that reshaped oversight of online program contractors and specified priorities for funding small schools and concurrent enrollment protections.