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Board adopts amended contractor requirements for Statewide Online Education Program
Summary
The State Board approved rule R277-725 on second and final reading with amendments addressing effective date, teacher licensing and course definitions after committee debate over monitoring, activity measures and funding implications.
The State Board of Education on second and final reading approved R277-725, the statewide online education program (SOEP) contractor requirements, as amended, following a finance committee report and multiple amendments to the draft rule.
Board chair Cindy Davis presented the recommended action and explained the board’s obligation to place contractor requirements in rule. Deputy superintendent Scott Jones told the board that “the law that she's referring to for April 1st is a requirement to have a contract in place.” The board adopted an amendment to make the rule effective after July 1, 2025, to align the rule’s effective date with statutory timing for changes to the SOEP.
The board debated several operational definitions and monitoring provisions, including how a student’s enrollment status is determined. Quinn Kellis, lead administrator for the State Online Education Program, read the rule definition: “Administrative withdrawal means that a provider has marked a student as inactive in a course for more than 10 days.” Member Lear pressed staff on whether that measure relies solely on provider reporting and raised concerns about financial incentives: “The provider is contracted by the contractor. Recommendation to would make the recommendation to the contractor, the student be withdrawn.” Lear said she was “concerned” that the two entities with a financial interest in keeping a student enrolled are those who report activity.
The board added language requiring the teacher of record to hold an active Utah educator license after members raised concerns that the rule’s definition of teacher of record did not explicitly require credentials. Quinn Kellis said monitoring visits include credential checks and that the rule requires content-area endorsements and background checks for teachers the program uses.
Members also voted to reinstate two lines in the rule that exclude blended instruction delivered in a supervised brick-and-mortar school from the SOEP course definition. Staff clarified the rule’s funding implication: SOEP funding covers only online instructional time, not in-person instruction delivered in a school building.
On procedural and record-keeping questions, Member Boggess asked that the public record reflect individual affirmative votes rather than simply “carried without objection.” The board followed standard voting procedures and recorded roll-call results where provided.
Final outcome: the board approved R277-725, statewide online education program contractor requirements, draft 2 as amended. The roll call when the final vote was called showed 13 in favor and 2 opposed (Member Carrie and Member Earl). The rule will be effective after July 1, 2025, as amended and includes the added teacher-license requirement and the reinstated course-definition language.
The board directed staff to address grammatical and technical edits submitted by members and to continue coordinating with the legislature on separation of private- and home-school components of SOEP where appropriate.
The board’s discussion distinguished between operational decisions staff will make and the significant program changes the board expects to be notified about; Quinn Kellis said the intent is to inform the board of significant changes so members can “speak intelligently with their stakeholders about these significant changes.”
