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Committee revises school climate survey rule: response thresholds, roles and opt-in status updated
Summary
The Standards and Assessment Committee approved amendments to R277-623 to align with statute that made the model School Climate Survey optional, updated job-title language, and revised participation thresholds and provisions for survey administration.
The Standards and Assessment Committee approved amendments to R277-623, the model School Climate Survey rule, to align with statute that made the survey optional and to modernize language and participation thresholds.
Dr. Willie Chen, school safety data analyst at the Utah School Safety Center, told the committee that House Bill 182 (2024) made the model climate survey opt-in for LEAs. Committee members subsequently proposed and adopted several amendments: replacing the term "classified" staff with the statutory title "education support professional," adjusting minimum participation language to read "with participation from at least 35% or 400 responses per survey group, whichever is fewer," retaining language that allows a student to request a different survey administrator, and allowing LEAs to remove or include additional questions with a caution from staff about technical limitations.
Why it matters: The change to an opt-in model means districts choose whether to administer the USBE model survey. Committee members debated minimum response thresholds (expressed as percent/absolute counts) and whether to require rates at the LEA or school level; the committee settled on survey-group language to give LEAs flexibility for smaller schools while keeping some minimums for data validity.
Technical caveat: USBE staff warned that removing or modifying questions might break a live API connection that exchanges survey data: the agency requested time to confirm whether edits would disrupt the automated data pipeline. The committee accepted an amendment allowing removal or addition of questions but asked staff to confirm technical effects and report back before full board adoption.
Committee action: The committee approved R277-623, as amended, and will forward the rule and technical caveats to the full board. Members emphasized giving LEAs flexibility while encouraging appropriate participation to keep results meaningful.
Ending: The committee directed staff to check the technical impacts of allowing LEA edits to the model survey and to report findings to the board before final adoption.
