Committee advances absenteeism, teacher-incentive and school-meals rules; all motions pass

A committee of the Utah State Board of Education on Thursday voted unanimously to move three rule items forward to the full board for second and final reading.

The committee moved and passed motions to continue and approve R277607, an absenteeism and truancy prevention rule, R277925, the effective teachers in high-poverty schools incentive program, and R277727, the school meals program amendment. The Chair called the motions and announced, “That passes unanimously.”

R277925 continues a program that authorizes a $5,000 salary bonus for teachers who meet two criteria: employment at a high-poverty school and achieving a median growth percentile of 70 or higher, staff said. Committee members asked whether one-time carry-forward funding would be reallocated or phased out in future years; staff said carry-forward funds cover continuing participants and the program will sunset if not funded in later budgets.

R277727 concerns the school meals program and a $260,000 appropriation set aside this year to reimburse LEAs for improvements such as purchasing local, unprocessed foods. Kim Loveland, director of child nutrition programs, told the committee that LEAs may submit requests in May for that additional money and that past examples have included purchases of local dairy, beef and fruits and vegetables.

All three motions were noncontroversial at the committee level and were forwarded to the full board for final action. The committee did not record individual vote tallies in the transcript; the Chair announced unanimous approval for each item.