Utah Admin. Code 277-726-7

Current through Bulletin No. 2024-21, November 1, 2024

Section R277-726-7 - Provider Requirements and Responsibilities

(1)

(a) A provider shall administer the applicable statewide assessments to a participating private or home school student as directed by the Superintendent, including proctoring the applicable statewide assessments, consistent with Section 53F-4-510 and Rule R277-404.

(b) A provider is responsible for administrative and proctoring costs and planning for the applicable statewide assessments described in Subsection (1)(a).

(2) A provider shall:

(a) establish a procedure that a student or parent may complete online to excuse the student from statewide assessments as described in Subsection 53G-6-803(9); and

(b) record and maintain a choice to opt a student out of a statewide assessment in a manner prescribed by the Superintendent.

(3) A provider shall provide a parent or a student with email and telephone contacts for the provider during regular business hours to facilitate parent contact.

(4) A provider and any third party working with a provider shall, for all eligible students, satisfy Board requirements for:

(a) consistency with course standards as described in Sections 53F-4-514 and 53E-6-201;

(b) criminal background checks for provider employees consistent with Title 53G, Chapter 11, Part 4, Background Checks;

(c) documentation of student enrollment and participation consistent with a standard of active participation on record with the Superintendent; and

(d) compliance with:

(i) the IDEA;

(ii) Section 504; and

(iii) requirements for multilingual students.

(5) A provider shall receive payments for a student properly enrolled in the program from the Superintendent consistent with:

(a) Board procedures;

(b) Board timelines; and

(c) Sections 53F-4-505 through 53F-4-508, Section 53F-4-518, and Board rule.

(6)

(a) A provider may charge a fee consistent with other secondary schools and in accordance with Title 53G, Chapter 7, Part 5, Student Fees, and Rule R277-407.

(b) If a provider intends to charge a fee of any kind, the provider:

(i) shall notify the primary school of enrollment with whom the provider has the CCA of the purpose for fees and amounts of fees;

(ii) shall provide timely notice to a parent of required fees and fee waiver opportunities;

(iii) shall post fees on the provider website and disclose fees in course notes provided to the Superintendent as part of the provider's annual submission of course lists;

(iv) shall be responsible for fee waivers for an eligible student, including materials for a student designated fee waiver eligible by a student's primary school of enrollment;

(v) shall satisfy the requirements of Rule R277-407, as applicable; and

(vi) shall provide fee waivers to home school or private school students who meet fee waiver eligibility at the provider's expense.

(7) A provider shall maintain a student's records and comply with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Title 53E, Chapter 9, Part 3, Student Data Protection, and Rule R277-487, including:

(a) protecting the confidentiality of a student's records and providing a parent and an eligible student access to records; and

(b) providing a parent or student timely documentation of and access to evidence and records of educational performance, including:

(i) test scores;

(ii) grades;

(iii) progress and performance measures; and (iv) completion of credit.

(8) Except as otherwise provided in this rule, a provider shall, using processes and applications provided by the Superintendent within five business days following the 20 school day statutory period allowed for student withdrawal:

(a) confirm a student to be in active participation in a course; or

(b) record a student's lack of confirmation.

(9) Following confirmation of a student's active participation, a provider shall:

(a) routinely update course records to reflect student participation as determined by student credit accruals;

(b) submit a student's credit and grade to the Superintendent, providing for each included course:

(i) the core code and short course description provided by the Superintendent associated with the course in program enrollment applications;

(ii) as necessary, the unique title a provider utilizes to identify a course to a designated counselor or registrar at the primary school of enrollment, and the student's parent; and

(c) complete the submissions required under Subsection (9)(b):

(i) 30 days after a student satisfactorily completes an online semester or quarter course; or

(ii) by June 30 annually.

(10) A provider may not withhold a student's credits, grades, or transcripts from the student, parent, or the student's school of enrollment for any reason.

(11)

(a) If a provider suspends or expels a student from an online course for disciplinary reasons, the provider shall notify the student's primary LEA of enrollment by placing the student on disciplinary withdrawal.

(b) A provider is responsible for due process procedures for student disciplinary actions in the provider's online program.

(c)

(i) A provider shall notify the Superintendent of a student's administrative withdrawal, if the student is inactive in a course for more than ten days, using forms and processes developed by the Superintendent for this purpose.

(ii) If a student, parent, or counselor fails to request reinstatement following notification under Subsection (c)(i), the provider shall formally withdraw the student within 72 hours and notify the student, parent, and primary LEA of the action.

(12) If a student entitled to services under the IDEA is removed from an online program, the primary LEA shall work with the student and the student's parents to identify alternatives to provide a free and appropriate public education.

(13)

(a) A provider shall provide to the Superintendent a list of course options using USBE-provided course codes.

(b) Beginning with the 2024-25 school year, a provider may only code program courses as semester or quarter courses.

(c) A provider shall update the provider's course offerings annually.

(14) A provider shall serve a student on a first-come-first-served basis who desires to take courses and who is designated eligible by a primary school of enrollment if desired courses have space available.

(15) A provider shall maintain and provide records and systems as part of a public online school or program, including:

(a) financial and enrollment records;

(b) information for accountability, program monitoring, and audit purposes; and

(c) providing timely documentation of student participation, enrollment, educator credentials, and additional data for other purposes including giving a student's primary school of enrollment access to the student's records to appropriately support the student.

(16) A provider shall maintain the following for at least five calendar years after the student graduates:

(a) test scores;

(b) student grades;

(c) completion of credit; and

(d) other progress and performance measures.

(17)

(a) A provider is responsible for complete and timely submissions of record changes to executed CCAs and submission of other reports and records as required by the Superintendent.

(b) A provider shall update CCAs to the nearest credit value earned by June 30 annually.

(c) A provider may only maintain an CCA open after June 30 if a student remains actively engaged in coursework, meeting the provider's standard of active participation.

(18)

(a) Before the inception of coursework, as a component of the provider's initial communication of provisions of the provider's standard of active participation, a provider shall inform a student and the student's parent of travel expectations to fulfill course requirements.

(b) Travel expectations to fulfill course requirements as described in Subsection (18)(a) include a requirement to participate in a proctored assessment or other proctored or assessment requirement outside a student's home, including travel to participate in statewide assessments at a secure testing site.

(19)

(a) An LEA may participate in the program as a provider by offering a school or program consistent with Rule R277-115 to a Utah student in grades 6-12 who is not a resident student of the LEA and a regularly-enrolled student of the LEA consistent with Sections 53F-4-501 and 53F-4-503.

(b) An LEA program created in accordance with Subsection (20)(a) for serving students in grades 9-12 online must partner with an accredited school and shall:

(i) report grades and credit earned by a student to the Superintendent; and

(ii) record educator assignments consistent with Rule R277-484.

(20) A program school or program shall:

(a) be accredited consistent with Rule R277-410;

(b) have a designated administrator who meets the requirements of Rule R277-309;

(c) ensure that a student who qualifies for a fee waiver receives services offered by and through the public schools consistent with Section 53G-7-504 and Rule R277-407;

(d) maintain student records consistent with:

(i) the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. 1232g and 34 CFR Part 99 ;

(ii) Rule R277-487;

(iii) this rule; and

(e) shall offer course work:

(i) aligned with Utah Core standards as described in Sections 53E-4-202, 53F-4-505, and 53F-4-514;

(ii) in accordance with program requirements; and

(iii) in accordance with Rules R277-700 and R277-404;

(f) may not issue transcripts under the name of a third party provider; and

(g) shall record teaching assignments by November 15 annually consistent with Rule R277-484 and Section R277-312-3, either directly or through a partner school in accordance with Subsection (20)(b).

(21) An LEA that offers an online program or school as a provider under the program:

(a) shall employ only educators licensed in Utah as teachers;

(b) may not employ an individual whose educator license has been suspended or revoked;

(c) shall require employees to meet requirements of Title 53G, Chapter 11, Part 4, Background Checks, before the provider offering services to a student;

(d) may only employ teachers who meet the requirements of Section 53E-6-201, Section 53F-4-504, and Rule R277-309;

(e) for a provider that provides an online course, including to a private or home school student, shall agree to administer and, before approval as an authorized online course provider, have the capacity to proctor and carry out the applicable statewide assessments, consistent with Sections 53E-4-302, 53F-2-103, and Rule R277-404;

(f) in accordance with Section R277-726-8, shall provide services to a student consistent with requirements of the IDEA, Section 504, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for multilingual students;

(g) shall submit CCAs to the Superintendent before the provider initiating instruction of a student;

(h) may not begin offering instruction to a student until the Superintendent issues a notice of enrollment, and the provider follows other enrollment procedures as prescribed by the Superintendent for the student, and for each course the student participates in; and

(i) shall agree that funds may be withheld by the Superintendent consistent with Sections 53F-4-505, 53F-4-506, 53F-4-508, and 53F-4-518.

(22) A provider shall post required information online on the provider's individual website including required assessment and accountability information.

(23) A provider contracting with a third party to provide educational services to students participating with the provider through the Statewide Online Education Program shall develop a written monitoring plan to supervise the activities and services provided by the third party provider to ensure:

(a) a third party provider is complying with:

(i) federal law;

(ii) state law; and

(iii) Board rules;

(b) curriculum provided by a third party provider is aligned with the Board's core standards and rules;

(c) a third party provider has access to curriculum for alignment and adjustment to ensure the curriculum is consistent with the Utah core standards in Rule R277-700 and a Board approved core code;

(d) supervision of third party facilitation by an educator licensed in Utah:

(i) assigned by the provider; and

(ii) reported as teacher of record per Section R277-484-3 and Subsection R277-726-2(3); and

(e) consistent with the LEA's administrative records retention schedule, maintenance of documentation of the LEA's supervisory activities.

(24) A provider shall offer courses consistent with standards outlined in an applicable Statewide Services Agreement, which may be updated or amended to reflect changes in law, rule, or recommended practice.

(25) All authorized online course providers are subject to the same approval and annual performance review as described for a certified online course provider in Section R277-726-11 while utilizing the applicable applications for an authorized online course provider described in Subsections R277-726-3(1)(a) and (b).

(26) A provider utilizing a third party shall establish contractual and procedural safeguards:

(a) retaining legal and procedural authority to open coursework to a participating student only upon issuance of a notice of enrollment regarding a particular course and credit;

(b) signifying the provider's authority to interact instructionally with a student not regularly-enrolled in an LEA, but participating in SOEP courses with approval of the student's primary LEA of enrollment; and

(c) including acceptance of financial responsibility by a primary LEA of enrollment.

(27) A provider is not required to independently verify:

(a) early graduation status; or

(b) that high school courses taken through the Statewide Online Education Program did not replace Middle School courses.

(28)

(a) A provider shall adhere to requirements to remain certified and in good standing within the program, including:

(b) before providing services to students, ensuring that 100% of all educators assigned as teacher of record for all course sections shall be appropriately licensed, endorsed and aligned with core code describing course assignment; and

(c) complying with requirements applicable to an authorized online course provider described in this Rule R277-726, including the requirement to maintain a course completion rate of at least 80%.

(29) If the Superintendent finds that an authorized online course provider is out of compliance with Subsection (28), the Superintendent shall provide the provider with a list of violations and a reasonable timeline for provider to cure the non-compliance.

(30) If an authorized online course provider fails to correct a violation identified under Subsection (29) within the time provided, the Superintendent may remove the provider from participation in the program.

Utah Admin. Code R277-726-7

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2016-5, effective 2/8/2016

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2016-17, effective 8/11/2016

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2017-1, effective 12/8/2016

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2019-12, effective 5/23/2019

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2020-07, effective 3/12/2020

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2021-02, effective 1/8/2021

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2021-19, effective 9/22/2021

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2022-10, effective 5/11/2022

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2022-17, effective 8/22/2022

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2022-22, effective 11/7/2022

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2023-16, effective 8/8/2023

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2024-16, effective 8/7/2024