Policy EDB - Special Programs: Dropout Prevention and Recovery
Policy EDB: Special Programs - Dropout Prevention and Recovery (PDF)
Issue Date: October 21, 2020
Ciations Updated: December 13, 2023
At-Risk Coordinator
The District shall designate one or more at-risk coordinators to collect and disseminate data regarding dropouts in the District and to coordinate the District’s program for students who are at high risk of dropping out of school.
Identification of “Designated students”
The District shall identify all students: who have withdrawn from school before earning a diploma, and who have been dropped from average daily membership, and whose graduating class (when entering grade 9) have not yet graduated. The District shall further identify students who are at risk of meeting these criteria.
Utah Code § 53G-9-801(3) (2023)
Dropout Reduction Plan
The District shall provide dropout prevention and recovery services to designated students, including:
- Engaging with or attempting to engage with designated students;
- Consulting with designated students and develop a learning plan to identify:
- Barriers to regular school attendance;
- An attainment goal through enrollment in education programs; and
- Means for the attainment goal through enrollment in one or more of the programs described below in Flexible Enrollment Options.
- Monitoring a designated student’s progress toward reaching the designated student’s attainment goal; and
- Providing tiered interventions for a designated student who is not making progress toward reaching the student's attainment goal.
The District shall provide dropout prevention and recovery services throughout the calendar year to students who become designated students while enrolled within the District. The District shall provide dropout prevention and recovery services to students who reside within the District who were enrolled in a charter school that does not include grade 12 and become designated in the summer after the student completes academic instruction at the charter school through the maximum grade level at the charter school.
Utah Code § 53G-9-802(1)(a)-(c) (2023)
The District shall establish a policy that describes how the District (or a third-party provider) will measure if a designated student made a year’s worth of progress toward an attainment goal during the year and how membership days will be determined for a designated student in accordance with the District’s school schedule and enrollment policies.
Utah Admin. Rules R277-606-3(3)(a) (July 22, 2022)
Flexible Enrollment Options
The District shall provide flexible enrollment options for a designated student that are tailored to the designated student’s learning plan and include two or more of the following:
- Enrollment in a traditional program in a school within the District;
- Enrollment in the District in a nontraditional program;
- Enrollment in a program offered by a private provider that has entered into a contract with the District to provide educational services; or
- Enrollment in a program offered by another local educational agency.
Utah Code § 53G-9-802(2)(a) (2023)
Designated Student Enrollment Options
A designated student may enroll in:
- A program offered by the District; or
- The Statewide Online Education Program.
The District shall make its best effort to accommodate a designated student’s choice of enrollment.
Utah Code § 53G-9-802(2)(b) (2023)
Third-Party Dropout Prevention and Recovery Services
Beginning with the 2017-18 school year (except as stated below), a District shall enter into a contract with a third party to provide dropout prevention and recovery services for any school year in which the District meets the following criteria:
- The District’s graduation rate is lower than the statewide graduation rate; and
- The District’s graduation rate has not increased by at least 1% on average over the previous three school years, or during the previous calendar year, at least 10% of the District’s designated students have not reached the students’ attainment goals or made a year's worth of progress toward the students’ attainment goals.
This requirement does not apply if: (a) the District is in its first three years of operation; (b) the District’s average graduation rate for the previous three years is higher than the statewide graduation rate for the same period; or (c) the quotient of the total number of the District’s graduating students plus 10 divided by the total number of students in the graduating class, is equal to or greater than the statewide graduation rate.
If required to provide dropout prevention and recovery services the District shal do at least one of the following: contract with a third party to provide the dropout prevention and recovery services use another program that is evidence-based (as defined in Utah Code 53G-11-303), or create a dropout prevention and recovery services plan that is evidence-informed (as defined in Utah Code § 53G-11-303).
If a District is required to enters into a third-party contract to provide the dropout prevention and recovery services, the District shall ensure that:
- The third party has a demonstrated record of effectiveness engaging with and recovering designated students;
- The contract with the third party requires the third party provide the services described the Dropout Reduction Plan and regularly report progress to the District.
Utah Code § 53G-9-802(3)-(6) (2023)
Utah Admin. Rules R277-606-3(2) (July 22, 2022)
Annual Reporting
The District shall annually submit a report to the State Superintendent of Education on dropout prevention and recovery services by October 30, including:
- The total number of designated students in the District;
- If applicable, the name of the third party the District is contracting with to provide dropout prevention and recovery services;
- The methods the District or third party uses to engage with or attempt to recover designated students under the Dropout Reduction Plan;
- The number of designated students who enroll in a program described in the Flexible Enrollment Options as a result of the District’s efforts to engage with or attempting to recover a designated student;
- The number of designated students who reach the designated students’ attainment goals; and
- Funding allocated to provide dropout prevention and recovery services.
Utah Code § 53G-9-802(7) (2023)
Utah Admin. Rules R277-606-4(1)(b) (July 22, 2022)
If the District creates its own dropout prevention and recovery plan, the District shall annually submit a copy of that plan to the State Superintendent of Education by October 30.
Utah Admin. Rules R277-606-4(2) (July 22, 2022)
“Attainment Goals” Defined
Attainment Goal means:
- A high school diploma;
- Utah High School Completion Diploma, as defined in State Board of Education rule;
- An Adult Education Secondary Diploma, as defined in State Board of Education rule; or
- An employer-recognized, industry-based certificate that is likely to result in job placement and is included in the State Board of Education's approved career and technical education industry certification list.