JFC - Dropout Prevention Recovery

Emery County School District

Policy: JFC - Dropout Prevention and Recovery

Date Adopted: 19 July 2017

Current Review / Revision: 19 July 2017

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The District shall identify all students: who have withdrawn from school before earning a diploma, and who have been dropped from average daily membership, and whose graduating class (when entering grade 9) have not yet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.

Dropout Reduction Plan

The District shall provide dropout prevention and recovery services to designated students, including:

  1. Engaging with or attempting to engage with designated students;

  2. Consulting with designated students and develop a leaning plan to identify:

    1. Barriers to regular school attendance;

    2. An attainment goal through enrollment in education programs; and

    3. Means for achieving the attainment goal through enrollment in one or more of the programs described below in Flexible Enrollment Options.

  3. Monitoring a designated student's progress toward reaching the designated student's attainment goal; and,

  4. 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.

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:

  1. Enrollment in a traditional program in a school within the District;

  2. Enrollment in the District in a nontraditional program;

  3. Enrollment in a program offered by a private provider that has entered into a contract with the District to provide educational services; or

  4. Enrollment in a program offered by another local educational agency.

Designated Student Enrollment Options

  1. A designated student may enroll in:

  2. A program offered by the District;

  3. The Electronic High School; or

  4. The Statewide Online Education Program.

The District shall make its best effort to accommodate a designated student's choice of enrollment.

Third-Party Dropout Prevention and Recovery Services

Beginning with the 2017-18 school year (unless a District is in its first three years), 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:

  1. The District's graduation rate is lower than the statewide graduation rate; and

  2. 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.

If a District is required to enter into a third party contract to provide dropout prevention and recovery services, the District shall ensure that:

  1. The third party has a demonstrated record of effectiveness engaging with and recovering designated students;

  2. 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.

Annual Reporting

The District shall annually submit a report to the State Board of Education on dropout prevention and recovery services, including:

  1. The methods the District or third party uses to engage with or attempt to recover designated students under the Dropout Reduction Plan;

  2. 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;

  3. The number of designated students who reach the designated students' attainment goals; and

  4. Funding allocated to provide dropout prevention and recovery services.

"Attainment Goals" Defined

Attainment Goal means:

  1. A high school diploma;

  2. Utah High School Completion Diploma, as defined in State Board of Education rule;

  3. An Adult Education Secondary Diploma, as defined in State Board of Education rule; or

  4. 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.