Comparability Policy
Adopted: 5/14/25
Purpose
The South Sanpete School District is dedicated to ensuring that all students have equitable access to high-quality instruction and educational resources. This policy establishes procedures to ensure compliance with the comparability requirements under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
The purpose is to guarantee that state and local funds are used to provide services in Title I schools that are at least comparable to those in non-Title I schools. When all schools in the district receive Title I funding, services must be substantially comparable across schools.
Policy Statement
The district shall allocate state and local funds to schools without regard to whether the school is receiving Title I funds. The district shall ensure that:
- Staffing levels and instructional resources in Title I schools are comparable to those in non-Title I schools, or substantially comparable when all schools receive Title I funds.
- State and local resources are equitably distributed using a consistent district-wide methodology.
To maintain comparability, the district will implement and review:
- A district-wide salary schedule;
- Policies ensuring equitable distribution of teachers, administrators, and other staff; and
- Policies supporting equivalent allocation of instructional resources.
The district will annually evaluate and document comparability, and take prompt corrective action if disparities are found.
Procedures for Measuring Comparability
To assess and document comparability, the South Sanpete School District will:
- Use student enrollment data from the October 1st count to determine school-level student populations.
- Ensure that the student-to-instructional staff ratio in each Title I school is equal to or lower than the average ratio of non-Title I schools within the same grade span (elementary, middle, high).
- If October 1 data shows non-compliance, an alternate date within the first two weeks of October may be used.
- Provide a base level of per-student funding from state and local sources for each school, regardless of Title I status.
- Implement a consistent district-wide salary schedule for all instructional staff.
- Monitor and compare average years of experience and the percentage of state-qualified staff across Title I and non-Title I schools.
- Ensure that instructional materials, library/media resources, and technology are comparable across all schools within the same grade span.
Documentation of Comparability
The Title I Director, in collaboration with LEA personnel, will:
- Collect and maintain data for each school, including:
- Student enrollment
- Allocation of state and local funds
- Staffing qualifications and counts
- Student-to-instructional staff ratios
- Inventory of instructional resources
- Conduct comparisons between each Title I school and:
- The average of non-Title I schools in the same grade span; or
- All other schools if all receive Title I funding.
- Generate and retain a Comparability Report for each Title I school and the District.
- Submit the report to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) by December 1 annually via the Desktop Monitoring Instrument.
- Make the report and supporting calculations available to the public upon request.
Corrective Actions for Non-Comparability
If a Title I school is found non-comparable:
- The district will identify the cause and implement corrective measures no later than November 15 of each school year.
- If unable to achieve compliance by that date, the district will:
- Notify the Utah State Education Agency (SEA);
- Submit a Corrective Action Plan; and
- Provide ongoing updates regarding progress.
- Upon achieving comparability, the district will re-submit the updated Comparability Report demonstrating compliance.
Review and Updates
This policy will be reviewed annually and revised as needed to ensure continued compliance with federal regulations and alignment with best practices in educational equity.
