Administrative Memos

Summary:

HB 182 establishes guidelines for conducting student surveys and mandates parental approval for certain types of surveys within public schools. Parents must be notified in advance about upcoming surveys that may require consent, have sufficient time to review the content, and be told that they can decide their child's participation.

Rationale:

HB 182 53E-9-203 Student Survey Amendments. The amended Section 53E-9-203 outlines the requirements concerning student surveys. This ensures transparency and parental control over sensitive student information collected by schools.

Requirements for Implementation:

Prior Written Consent: 

1. LEAs must obtain prior written consent from a student's parent before administering any psychological, psychiatric examination, test, treatment, or any survey, analysis, or evaluation that seeks personal information. This includes data related to:

• Political affiliations or philosophies
• Mental or psychological issues
• Sexual behavior, orientation, or attitudes
• Illegal or self-incriminating behavior
• Critical appraisals of close family members
• Religious affiliations or beliefs
• Privileged relationships (e.g., with lawyers or medical personnel)
• Family income (unless required by law) 2.      Annual Consent: LEAs must obtain annual written consent for students to opt in during registration for specific surveys, including those related to: 
• Early warning systems
• Social-emotional learning
• School climate

Unless otherwise agreed to by a student's parent and the person requesting written consent, the authorization is valid only for the activity for which it was granted. Failing to respond will be considered opting out of the survey.

3.      Applicability: This requirement applies to all grades (K-12) and extends to all curriculum and school activities unless consent has been given.

4.      Restrictions: LEAs cannot use consent from a previous school if a student transfers, nor can they reward or penalize students for participation or non-participation in such surveys or examinations. A written withdrawal of authorization submitted to the school principal by the authorizing parent terminates the authorization. A general consent used to approve admission to school or involvement in special education, remedial education, or a school activity does not constitute written consent

5.      Parental Notification: The local educational agency shall directly notify the parent of a student, at least annually at the beginning of the school year, of the specific or approximate dates during the school year when activities described in item #2 are scheduled or expected to be scheduled. Consent is valid only if parents are first given written notice, including access to the survey questions, information on how the data will be used, who will have access to it, and the purpose of the data collection. Surveys must also be made available online for parents to review.

• A school may administer a survey to students that does not request personal information or address on sensitive topics (e.g., political beliefs, religious affiliations, sexual orientation, mental health, etc.), or early warning systems, social-emotional learning, or school climate without prior written parental consent. 

6.  External Surveys. It is the right of a parent to inspect, upon the request of the parent, a survey created by a third party before the survey is administered or distributed by a school to a student (20 USC §1232h - Protection of Pupil Rights (PPRA)). All surveys from external partners, stakeholders, or agencies must be approved through the district’s external research request approval process first. Only surveys that have been approved for use in the district can be provided to parents to review and provide opt-in approval for their student’s participation. If an external party requests permission to administer a survey, direct them to the external research link.

Expectations for Implementation:

1.      Communication:

o    Administrators will communicate to all staff that surveys cannot be administered to students without review and administrator approval.

o    If a survey goes out without approval, the administrator is responsible for addressing the issue with the teacher, including documented progressive discipline.

o    Administrators should direct external participants who want a school to administer a survey to the external research approval process.

o    Administrators are responsible for seeking clarity by asking questions when unclear.

o    Administrators are responsible for sharing the information with impacted staff and the general school community in a clear and timely fashion.

2.      Collaboration:

o    If you have a question about the content of a survey, please contact Tiffany Hall and/or Sam Quantz before administering the survey.

3.      Evaluation:

o    The district will regularly assess the impact of any changes to our current practice by seeking feedback and will adjust as needed based on that information.

Conclusion:

For any survey related to sensitive topics, early warning systems, social-emotional learning, or school climate, the school must provide detailed information to parents, including the purpose, content, and how the data will be used. Additionally, parents must be allowed to review the survey and must provide written consent before their child participates.

Without parental consent, schools are limited to administering non-sensitive surveys that do not intrude into personal, familial, or confidential areas of a student's life.

Your cooperation and support in this endeavor are greatly appreciated.

For 2024-2025 ONLY:

Surveys that have not been approved through the registration process and that fall into one of the categories listed above as needed parental approval may go through a post-registration process this year only. If a school or external third party with an approved application wishes to administer a school climate or an SEL survey, they must complete the following:

1.      Provide all parents with a description of (1) the purpose of the survey, (2) what information will be collected about the respondents, (3) how the information about the respondents and the information from the survey will be used, (4) who will have access to the data, and (5) how the data will be protected. Include the full text of the survey so parents can review all questions.

2.      Inform parents that they must respond and agree to opt-in their student or to opt their student out of taking the survey. Failing to respond will be considered opting out of the survey.

3.      Send this information to parents using an appropriate method: work with IT to setup a parent opt-in form that will allow the invitations and responses to be tracked and recorded.

4.      After the deadline, which should be at least two weeks and include at least one reminder, schools may send the survey to anyone who has responded and opted-in their student for participation in the survey.

Questions? Tiffany Hall, Sam Quantz, Kristina Kindl

Welcome back to school and to a fresh new year in 2025.  We hope you all enjoyed your winter break and are looking forward to the second half of the school year.  We are excited to share with you this month’s attendance focused email to LEAs across Utah to hopefully increase awareness of the resources available to LEAs from the Utah State Board of Education and also to share helpful information for you to distribute to other attendance leads in your LEA. 

Celebration/Success Stories Ideas 

It is essential in our attendance work that we focus on the positive and celebrate successes we are having at the LEA level and at the school level.  Here are some ideas from LEAs in our state who are focusing on attendance. 

One of the action steps Ogden School District is focusing on is using data to identify groups of students who they are able to impact related to attendance. Specific schools are piloting a "Moveable Middle" meeting where collaborative teams meet to review attendance data every 4-6 weeks. Parents/guardians are sent specific messaging based on data criteria sharing the impact of attendance and progress being made with the student's specific rate of attendance. At one of their schools, the team has identified a 10% improvement in the target students based on mid-term and term attendance rates. This is not only with the group identified in the "Moveable Middle" meetings but also in other subgroups. As a district, they will continue to refine their data analysis process to move to a district-wide implementation.  Way to be an example of using data to drive attendance decisions! 

Early Light Academy has created a focus on attendance messaging in their schoolwide monthly newsletter.  They are holding attendance meetings with chronically absent students, families, and staff.  As well as focusing on Tier 1 incentives for students and classes with greater than 95% attendance.  We are grateful for their example of focusing on the positive and making sure to be consistent with attendance messaging! 

Attendance Webinar

We hope you will join us on January 14, 2025 at 10:30am for our first attendance webinar for 2025.  We are looking forward to sharing with you what resources USBE has to offer in regard to attendance.  We will also hear from Murray School District who has worked really hard to improve attendance across their LEA and has shown a lot of progress. They will give a lot of practical information for all schools.  We hope you will let all of your schools know about this opportunity to learn more about attendance in Utah!  The flier can be found here if you would like more information. 

Winter Messaging Ideas

Here are some helpful resources from Attendance Works on sending out messages during the winter months.

A Winter Messaging Toolkit: Stay the Course

Parent Engagement Ideas 

Here are some ideas on how you can engage with families to have discussions around attendance: home visits, special events, in-person family conferences, virtual family conferences, regular phone calls home, robocalls, automated text messages, manual text messages, letters home, attendance focused family night, digital newsletters, emails, engagement during pick-up and drop-off, dedicated communication app, etc. 

Helpful Articles/Podcasts

Schools and Families: Unite to Get Students Back into the Attendance Habit 

10 Facts about Attendance

Request for Information 

Murray School District has been analyzing their attendance data and the correlation between attendance and transportation.  They are wondering if any other LEA in Utah has noticed any of the following: 

*Gaps in busing distance dependent on measuring point (example: 1.9 miles to the school from the leasing office, but the student actually lives farther away) 

*Unsafe busing routes due to crime/unsafe neighborhoods

*Other busing/transportation barriers and gaps

If you have any questions or information you would like to share with Murray, please reach out to Brittany Roller at broller@murrayschools.org

Upcoming Dates/Information 

January-March 2025- The Utah Legislative Session will start on January 21st and run through March 21st.  Watch for updates on legislation surrounding education. 

February 4 & 12 2025- Engagement and Attendance Cohorts Collaboration Meetings 

*If your LEA is interested in joining an attendance cohort starting next school year, please contact us and we can give you more information.

We appreciate all you do. Please let us know how we can best support you and your schools. 

USBE Attendance Specialists 

https://www.schools.utah.gov/prevention/absenteeismtruancyprevention

Megan Menlove

Attendance Support Specialist

Utah State Board of Education

megan.menlove@schools.utah.gov

Please take a minute to review the following information pertaining to accepting donations.

Letting your donors know how much you appreciate their gift is not enough. We need to comply with IRS regulations regarding tax deductible donations. The Salt Lake Education Foundation and Development Office will send thank-you letters/receipts for each donation that your school receives.

Pursuant to Utah Code §51-4-2(2)(a), all public funds shall be deposited within three banking days after receipt. This rule applies to ALL funds, including funds received from fundraisers (note that cash above $50 must be deposited same day).

Monetary Donations:

1. Checks payable to the school or district: Deposit them at Chase Bank as you normally would. Forward copies of the checks, the summary of cash received for that day’s deposit, and a Development Deposit Form to Jeanette.Hartley@slcschools.org.  In the description of the deposit form, please list the fund 21 account number. A thank-you letter/receipt on district letterhead will be mailed to each donor.
2. Checks payable to the Salt Lake Education Foundation: Deposit them at Zions Bank in the foundation’s account. Please contact Jeanette.Hartley@slcschools.org for the account number. The only difference in the process is you will deposit them at Zions Bank, and you will email a Foundation Deposit Form (instead of a Development Deposit Form) along with copies of the checks and bank receipt to Jeanette.Hartley@slcschools.org. In the description of the deposit form, please list the fund 21 account number of where you want the funds to be transferred. A thank-you letter/receipt on foundation letterhead will be mailed to each donor. The foundation will transfer the funds to your school’s fund 21 account in the month following the date of deposit.
3. Cash: You may deposit cash at either bank. Please follow the same instructions as when you deposit checks, using the appropriate deposit form, and list the donor’s address on the deposit form as it will not be listed on a check. Use a Development Deposit Form (when the deposit was at Chase Bank) or a Foundation Deposit Form (when the deposit was at Zions Bank). If a donor’s address is listed on the form, a thank-you letter/receipt will be mailed to the donor.

Please be aware that not all funds collected from fundraising efforts are donations. For more information, see Is It a Donation? If there are goods or services given in exchange for a contribution, the amount should be listed in the “Other Revenue” column found in the “Split Gift” section of the Development and Foundation Deposit Forms.

Gifts In-Kind:

The Gift-in-Kind Donation Form should be given to donors who give non-cash items (such as school supplies or auction items). It is the responsibility of the donor to list the value of their donation on the form. After the form is received by the foundation, a thank-you letter/receipt will be mailed to the donor that may be used for tax deduction purposes.

The forms may be found on the foundation’s website at https://www.saltlakeeducationfoundation.org/.  For assistance, please contact:

Jeanette Hartley

Jeanette.Hartley@slcschools.org

Phone: 801-578-8270

Elizabeth Moran

Elizabeth.Moran@slcschools.org

Phone: 801-578-8258

As a reminder, Board Policy F-1 details our deposit procedures and Board Policy C-6 details our donation procedures.

Process After Funds Have Been Deposited:

It is essential that any gift received by the foundation is used for its intended purpose to ensure compliance with donor intent. Funds deposited in the foundation’s account at Zions Bank are tracked in Blackbaud software, which is designed for nonprofits, in categories that correspond with the purposes of the donations.

1. Elementary and Middle Schools: Funds for elementary and middle schools are transferred to applicable school accounts held in fund 21 following the foundation’s month-end reconciliation. Funds for classrooms are placed in grade-level accounts, not in accounts for individual teachers. Elementary and middle school administrators and secretaries may see their balances and account activity in BusinessPlus.
2. High Schools: Funds donated to the foundation for high schools are held in the foundation’s account and are transferred to high schools upon request. A check is sent to the school.
3. Grants: If the funds received by the foundation were a result of a grant in which the foundation’s 501(c)(3) number was used and require oversight and/or reporting, then those funds remain in the foundation’s account, maintained by the Development Office.

Thank you for your support in ensuring that we comply with the acceptance of donations procedures.

James E. Yapias

This communication is to update you about the school, school leadership, and district grant-seeking support system, which must be used by your faculty and staff or anyone who is seeking grant funding. This procedure went into effect on April 18, 2018. This procedure aims to increase site and department support, collaboration of resources, and student achievement through a streamlined process. The link to the Grant Pre-Application Approval Worksheet is https://apex.slcschools.org/apex/r/slcsd/grant-application.

Thank you for your collaboration efforts on grant submissions. Using the Grant Pre-Application Approval Worksheet helps the district and foundation have a clear, shared plan based on school improvement and community needs. Most importantly, it allows us to communicate effectively and efficiently with stakeholders.

Process:

School administrators will be notified before a grant is submitted and will be able to have questions answered and pre-approve the grant application. The foundation will also be notified to ensure compliance with our C-6 Fundraising Policy and 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

The pre-submission approval process:

• Approval by impacted schools/departments (15 business days before the grant application is due)
• Approval by the foundation director (10 business days before the grant application is due) All local, state, business/corporate, and foundation grants less than $100,000
• Approval by the superintendent (10 business days before the grant application is due) All federal grants
• All local, state, business/corporate, and foundation grants $100,000 or greater
• Approval by additional district personnel as required by the foundation director.

If you have questions about the Grant Pre-Application Approval Worksheet, contact me at James.Yapias@slcschools.org or 801.578.8561.

Sincerely,

James E. Yapias

GRANT PRE-APPLICATION APPROVAL INSTRUCTIONS

Requester:	Automatically populated with the employee logged in making the grant request.
Requester Department:	Automatically populated based on the employee logged in making the grant request.
Name of Grant Opportunity:	What is the name of the grant?
Funding Type:	Select (Local, State, Federal, Business/Corporate, Foundation)
Program Focus:	Special Event, Enhancement, Afterschool, or Other.
Program Title:	What is the title of the program?
Amount Requesting:	What is the dollar amount that you are requesting?
Matching Funds:	What is the commitment from the school or department as it relates todollar amount?
Will this grant require us to provide student data?	If yes, you will need to complete a student request form on the information technology website. https://apex.slcschools.org/apex/r/slcsd/data-external-research-requests
Date Grant Application is Due:	Please enter the date the grant application is due.
Proposed Implementation:	When do you plan to implement the program?
Which Departments will you need support from?	Please check all applicable boxes. This will help the foundation director get approvals when support is required.
Required Support:	Type of support you will need to ensure that the program is successful.
Program Summary:	Write a brief summary of the scope of the program/project.
Contact Information of Funder:	Name, address, phone/fax number, and email.