Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House approves formula change to fund students with disabilities
Summary
Lawmakers approved HB 105 to change the special-education funding formula so the state funds students with disabilities more responsively by using the prior year's membership plus recent growth and raising growth caps for districts; the House passed the bill 68-0 and sent it to the Senate.
The Utah House approved a bill aimed at reducing a lag in funding for students with disabilities by changing how the state calculates special-education allocations.
Representative Judkins, sponsor of House Bill 105, said the existing formula uses a five-year average and creates a two-year lag that leaves newly eligible students unfunded. "What my bill does is... change it to the prior year's average daily membership plus growth and the preceding 4 years daily average," Judkins said, adding the change would better fund students who are enrolled and need services now.
Judkins said the bill also adjusts caps on allowable growth rates—raising the limit to 14% for large districts and 20% for smaller districts—to account for faster growth in some districts and to prevent overidentification. He warned that federal rules limit excessive divergence and that the state must guard against federal intervention.
Representative Eliason and other colleagues praised the measure as a technical but important improvement that will make special-education funding more timely. The House passed HB 105 with 68 yes votes and 0 no votes; the bill was transmitted to the Senate for consideration.
