Education

Administration

Rule 110: Educator Salary Adjustment

Effective Date: 10/08/2026

Admin. Code Reference: R277-110

Rule Type: Current Rule

NOTICE OF SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE

TYPE OF FILING: Amendment

Filing ID: 58151

Rule or section number:

R277-110

1. Agency Information

Title catchline:

Education, Administration

Building:

Board of Education

Street address:

250 E 500 S

City, state:

Salt Lake City, UT

Mailing address:

PO Box 144200

City, state and zip:

Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4200

2. Contact Persons

Name:

Phone:

Email:

Elisse Newey

801-538-7500

Elisse.newey@schools.utah.gov

Please address questions regarding information on this notice to the persons listed above.

3. General Information

A. Rule or section catchline:

R277-110. Educator Salary Adjustment

B. Purpose of the new rule or reason for the change:

The rule amendments are due to the passage of HB 372 during the 2026 General Session.

C. Summary of the new rule or change:

The amendments clarify that the Utah State Board of Education (Board) may no longer issue credentials for individuals performing the functions of an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist. Instead, these professionals will be licensed strictly through the Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL).

The proposed amendments update administrative and reporting procedures to ensure Local Education Agencies (LEAs) can seamlessly verify and receive funding for audiologists and speech-language pathologists who now hold DOPL licenses rather than Board credentials.

The amendments also remove the oversight categorization of "Category 2".

4. Legislative Action Information

A. Are any changes in this filing

because of state legislative action?

Changes are because of legislative action.

B. If yes, any bill number and

session:

HB 372 (2026 General Session)

5. Fiscal Information

Provide an estimate and written explanation of the aggregate anticipated cost or savings to:

A. State budget:

This rule change is not expected to have fiscal impact on state government revenues or expenditures.

The proposed amendments perform three administrative cleanup actions:

1) strike an outdated internal oversight category reference (Subsection R277-110-1(3)),

2) strike obsolete past effective date references (Subsections R277-110-3(4)(a) and (4)(b)), and

3) update Subsection R277-110-3(11)(a) to replace fixed, static figures ($4,200 and fiscal year 2022-23) with dynamic references to the baseline adjustment amount in Section 53F-2-405 and the "prior fiscal year."

The actual funding allocations and statutory baseline amounts for the Educator Salary Adjustment program are established directly by the Utah Legislature through statute (Section 53F-2-405) and annual appropriations.

Updating the rule text to reference the underlying statute continuously aligns administrative language with state law without creating new state programs, altering disbursement mechanisms, or requiring additional agency staffing.

Consequently, there are no incremental costs or savings to the state budget.

B. Local governments:

This rule change is not expected to have fiscal impact on local governments' revenues or expenditures.

School districts, charter schools, and the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB) distribute educator salary adjustments according to legislative appropriations and statutory criteria in Section 53F-2-405.

Replacing static historical figures ($4,200 and FY 2022-23) in rule text with relative statutory language ensures ongoing consistency with state law, but imposes no new accounting workflows, payroll system modifications, or reporting mandates on LEAs.

Because the rule change itself does not alter the net funding received or distributed by LEAs beyond existing statutory requirements, local governments will experience no incremental costs or savings.

C. Small businesses ("small business" means a business employing 1-49 persons):

This rule change is not expected to have fiscal impact on small businesses' revenues or expenditures.

This rule applies exclusively to public education entities (school districts, charter schools, and USDB) and their licensed employees.

It contains no provisions that regulate, tax, or impose compliance obligations on private commercial enterprises or small businesses.

Therefore, it will have zero aggregate economic impact on small businesses.

D. Non-small businesses ("non-small business" means a business employing 50 or more persons):

There are no non-small businesses in the industry in question, Elementary and Secondary Schools (North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 611110). Because there are no non-small businesses, they do not account for any service delivery for Elementary and Secondary Schools. Therefore, non-small businesses are not expected to receive increased or decreased revenues per year. This proposed rule change is not expected to have any fiscal impact on non-small businesses' revenues or expenditures because there are no applicable non-small businesses, and it does not require any expenditures of, or generate revenue for non-small businesses.

E. Persons other than small businesses, non-small businesses, state, or local government entities ("person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental entity, or public or private organization of any character other than an agency):

This rule change is not expected to have fiscal impact on revenues or expenditures for persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local government entities.

The edits update rule definitions and statutory cross-references.

The actual salary adjustments provided to public educators are dictated by legislative appropriations and statute, rather than being created by these administrative rule text revisions.

As a result, no direct financial gains, liabilities, or out-of-pocket expense changes will be experienced by educators, parents, or taxpayers as an aggregate class due to this rule change.

F. Compliance costs for affected persons:

There are no compliance costs for affected persons.

Because updating administrative rule text to mirror statutory references requires no new reporting steps, hardware, or out-of-pocket fees from individual educators or school administrators, the incremental compliance cost per individual entity within any affected class is $0.

6. Regulatory Impact Summary Table

Enter the cost or savings in the relevant cell. If there is no cost or savings, enter, "$0." If a cost or savings is inestimable, enter, "inestimable."

Fiscal Cost

FY2027

FY2028

FY2029

FY2030

FY2031

State Budget

Local Governments

Small Businesses

Non-Small Businesses

Other Persons

Total Fiscal Cost

Fiscal Benefits

FY2027

FY2028

FY2029

FY2030

FY2031

State Budget

Local Governments

Small Businesses

Non-Small Businesses

Other Persons

Total Fiscal Benefits

Net Fiscal Benefits

7. Regulatory Impact Analysis Approval

The State Superintendent of the Utah State Board of Education, Molly Hart, has reviewed and approved this regulatory impact analysis.

8. Family Impact Information

A. The agency has considered this rule's impact on family health, stability, and formation:

☒

9. Citation Information

Provide citations to the statutory authority for the rule. If there is also a federal requirement for the rule, provide a citation to that requirement:

Utah Constitution, Article X, Section 3

Subsection 53E-3-401(4)

Subsection 53F-2-405(5)

11. Public Notice Information

The public may submit written or oral comments to the agency identified in box 1.

A. Comments will be accepted until:

10/01/2026

12. Effective Date Information

This rule change MAY become effective on:

(NOTE: This is the date the agency anticipates making the filing effective. It is NOT the effective date)

10/08/2026

13. Agency Authorization Information

Agency head or

designee and title:

Elisse Newey, Deputy Superintendent of

Policy

Date:

08/14/2026

R277. Education, Administration.

R277-110. Educator Salary Adjustment.

R277-110-1. Authority[,] and Purpose[, and Oversight Category].

(1) This rule is authorized by:

(a) Utah Constitution Article X, Section 3, which vests general control and supervision over public education in the Board;

(b) Subsection 53E-3-401(4), which allows the Board to make rules to execute the Board's duties and responsibilities under the Utah Constitution and state law; and

(c) Subsection 53F-2-405(5), which authorizes the Board to make rules to administer the educator salary adjustment program.

(2) The purpose of this rule is to outline a consistent method for enacting educator salary adjustments in accordance with Section 53F-2-405.

[(3) This Rule R277-110 is categorized as Category 2 as described in Rule R277-111.]

R277-110-2. Definitions.

(1) "Educator" has the same meaning as defined in Subsection 53F-2-405(1).

(2) "Educator Salary Adjustment" or "Adjustment" means funds allocated by the Board to an LEA in accordance with Subsection 53F-2-405(3).

(3) "LEA" includes, for purposes of this rule, the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

(4) "USIMS" has the same meaning as defined in Subsection R277-312-2(6).

R277-110-3. Procedures.

(1) An LEA shall:

(a)(i) have employee evaluation procedures consistent with Title 53G, Chapter 11, Part 5, School District and Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind Employee Requirements; or

(ii) if an LEA is exempt from the requirements of Subsection (1)(a)(i), have employee evaluation procedures in place to receive funds under Section 53F-2-405;

(b) put the adjustment appropriation into the LEA's salary schedule each year that funds are appropriated by the Legislature;

(d) ensure that each eligible employee who is not a full-time educator receives a proportional salary adjustment based on the number of hours the employee works in the employee's current assignment as an educator; and

(e) ensure that each educator who receives an adjustment has not received an unsatisfactory rating on the educator's three most recent evaluations as described in Subsection 53F-2-405(4)(c).

(2) Notwithstanding Subsection (1)(e), an LEA may grant an adjustment to a new hire who has successfully completed the position hiring process and been selected for an educator position.

(3) Once an educator qualifies for an adjustment in a designated school year, the adjustment becomes an ongoing part of the educator's salary.

(4)(a) [Beginning July 1, 2023, an]An educator shall receive at least the amount described in Subsection 53F-2-405(4)(a) for the educator

salary adjustment.

(b) [Beginning July 1, 2024, an]An educator shall receive an annual adjustment of an amount equal to the amount described in Subsection

53F-2-405(4)(d) based upon legislative funding allocations.

(c) The Superintendent shall distribute funds to LEAs for the educator salary adjustment based on LEA educator data submitted by October 15.

(d) An LEA may be required to provide funding to meet benefit costs for educators under this program.

(5) A school building level administrator shall receive an annual adjustment of $2,500 and benefits as provided in Subsection 53F-2-405(7).

(6) Each LEA shall annually note on the appropriate salary schedule:

(a) the amount of the educator salary adjustment;

(b) the positions qualifying for the adjustment; and

(7) Each LEA shall annually maintain record of performance ratings for an educator receiving an adjustment in accordance with this rule.

(8)(a) The Superintendent shall remit to LEAs an estimated educator salary adjustment allotment through monthly bank transfers and allotment memos beginning in July of each year.

(b) The Superintendent shall adjust the allotment amount in November of each year to match the number of qualified educators in CACTUS or USIMS, including eligible educators licensed by the Division of Professional Licensing as described in Subsection 53F-2-405(1).

(9) An adjustment to CACTUS or USIMS made after October 13 may not count toward an LEA's amount for educator salary adjustments until the following year.

(10) An LEA may not include educator salary adjustments when calculating the weighted average compensation adjustment for non-administrative licensed staff.

(11) For purposes of ensuring that an LEA may not reduce or artificially limit an educator's salary to convert the salary supplement in this section into a windfall to the LEA as required in Section 53F-2-405 an LEA shall:

(a) increase the total wage compensation of each educator, including salary and stipends, by [at least $4,200,]the applicable baseline

adjustment amount described in Section 53F-2-405, from the educator's compensation in fiscal year [2022-23]from the educator's compensation in

the prior fiscal year; and

(b) appropriately code educator salary and payroll provided through the educator salary adjustment to the educator salary adjustment program code in accordance with Rule R277-113 and the LEA's program accounting policy.

KEY: educators, salary adjustments

Date of Last Change: 2026[October 8, 2024]

Notice of Continuation: April 15, 2022

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: Art X Sec 3; 53E-3-401(4); 53F-2-405(5)

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