SB 62: School Finance Amendments - Utah

Substitute #3 → Enrolled · 5 edits · Mar 19, 2026

MODERATE

This bill updates the Utah School Finance Act to change how inflation and enrollment growth costs are calculated for specific education programs, including teacher salary support. It mandates that the state board collect specific data from school districts by October 15 annually and establishes a new requirement that any increase in the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) value must be partially funded by the Local Levy Growth Account starting in fiscal year 2026. The bill also corrects a formatting error in the section title and updates the document's timestamp.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of programs subject to mandatory annual inflation and enrollment growth cost calculations to include the flexible allocation for teacher and classroom salary support, which was not explicitly listed in the previous version.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement for the state board to provide specific data to the Legislative Fiscal Analyst by October 15 each year to calculate funding adjustments.

Added a rule requiring the state board to establish administrative rules ensuring school districts (LEAs) provide enrollment and educator count data.

FISCAL

Added a new provision requiring that if the WPU value increases beyond the standard inflation calculation, at least 0.5% of that increase must be appropriated to the Local Levy Growth Account.

TIMELINE

Updated the document timestamp from February 27, 2026, to March 11, 2026.

TECHNICAL

Corrected a formatting error in the section title for 53F-2-421, removing an unintended merged word.

Introduced → Substitute #1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill significantly rewrites the school funding formula to address enrollment changes and create new funding streams for special education. It replaces the previous 'prior year plus growth' method with a system that uses the current school year's October count to determine funding, ensuring districts receive money based on actual current enrollment rather than projected growth. Additionally, it establishes a new category of funding specifically for self-contained special education classrooms, allowing districts to reallocate savings from general enrollment declines to support these specialized needs.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of the funding statute by adding a new section dedicated entirely to self-contained special education weighted pupil units, while modifying the applicability of the general funding formula to rely on current-year data instead of prior-year projections.

FISCAL

Changed the funding calculation method from 'prior year plus growth' to using the current school year's October enrollment count to determine weighted pupil units.

Created a new funding category for 'self-contained special education weighted pupil units' to provide specific financial support for students in self-contained classrooms.

REQUIREMENT

Mandated that the Executive Appropriations Committee reallocate any savings from general enrollment declines specifically to fund the new self-contained special education units.

TIMELINE

Extended the effective date of the bill from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027.

DEFINITION

Added specific legal definitions for 'LEA' and 'Self-contained special education WPU' to clarify the new funding provisions.

Substitute #2 → Substitute #3 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was completely rewritten to shift its focus from school funding formulas to teacher salary support. The new version removes all provisions regarding weighted pupil units, special education funding, and enrollment growth calculations, replacing them with a mandate to adjust teacher salaries based on inflation and enrollment growth. This change alters the bill's scope from general school finance to specific compensation adjustments and updates the effective date to July 1, 2026.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from a comprehensive school funding formula (including special education and enrollment metrics) to a specific mechanism for adjusting teacher and classroom salary support based on inflation and enrollment growth.

SCOPE

All provisions regarding weighted pupil units, special education self-contained classrooms, and at-risk student funding were removed.

FISCAL

The formula for calculating funding based on enrollment decline and growth for specific programs was removed.

REQUIREMENT

New requirements were added to calculate and distribute funding adjustments specifically for teacher and classroom salary support based on inflation and enrollment growth.

New requirements were added for school districts to submit enrollment and educator employment data to the state board by specific deadlines.

TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from July 1, 2027 to July 1, 2026.

Substitute #1 → Substitute #2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends school funding formulas to include students in self-contained special education classrooms, which were previously excluded from weighted pupil unit calculations. It also redefines how enrollment growth is calculated and redirects savings from declining enrollment to support both special education and at-risk students. Additionally, the bill clarifies the definition of a self-contained special education unit to require 180 minutes of specialized instruction per day.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of funding eligibility to include students in self-contained special education classrooms and extends the reallocation of enrollment savings to include at-risk students.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed the exclusion of self-contained classes for children with disabilities from the calculation of weighted pupil units in general school funding.

FISCAL

Changed the reallocation of savings from enrollment decline to specifically fund self-contained special education units and at-risk student units.

DEFINITION

Added a specific definition for 'Self-contained special education weighted pupil unit' requiring 180 minutes or more of specialized instruction per day.

REQUIREMENT

Updated the growth factor calculation to use current year student counts instead of prior year plus growth for determining average daily membership.

School Finance Amendments

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