Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Wisconsin Federal Funding Conference Notes

Time and Effort reporting - must keep as records in district. Keep for 4 years. Percentage of time of staff coded to a federal grant like Title or Sped. Personnel Activity Reports completed at least monthly. Semi annual certification. Semi annual certification example has the employee sign their name. Another example has just the principal sign off that all four employees worked 100% in sped.  One PAR example had 80% in title and 20% in regular education. The employee signs that form. Has to be actual amount of work not estimated. 

Double check the staff that are coded for Time and Effort are 100% out of sped budget and working with sped students.

High Cost Categorical Aid
Look up this info to see how we can apply for this

Medicaid Reimbursement
Review with staff which students are eligible for attendant care services. Describe attendant care services again.
Check with CESA on funding level for 11-12 and how much we received in 12-13. Budget appropriately for 12-13. 

Categorical Aid
Double check with human resources and business department on which sped staff have sped licenses and who we are getting categorical aid on. 

IDEA Budget
Regularly review budget allowables to determine what we can take out of IDEA and also can't take out. 

Staffing
Make sure all staff are licensed in sped.double check with Pam and Jeff get a list of staff from them. 

Bussing
If paid for out of 100% out of sped then can only use for sped. They said to pay for out of regular Ed funds but use sped funds to add wheelchair lift.

Unallowed cost
Can't contract with private vendor for services provided directly to student for autism or psych services. Psych eval you could. 

Act 105
LEAs can contract with private vendors for services directly to student including nursing, OT, PT, and now audiology, speech language, educational interpreter, orientation and mobility, transition services. DPI is working on what Transition Services means. Will place on their website. 

Property Management
Non capital equipment is considered high risk. iPods, iPads, lap tops, etc. keep track of them. Know where they are located and how it is being used. If you put sped equipment like iPads in regular education room, then the teacher needs to know how to use technology for the sped kids in the room. DPI will be asking those questions. Teachers can't say don't know or it is being used for all kids not just those with sped needs. 

Equitable Services
Based on location of private schools. 

MOE
LEA fails to maintain effort by $10,000. District must use local funds to pay back $10,000 to Dept of Ed. 

IDEA and Preschool
This will be decrease budget amountbin IDEA in 11-12. Budget adjustments might need to be made. No adjustments to Preschool. Keep checking for how much budget reduction will be.

Private School set aside
Proportionate share calculation for IDEA and Preschool separately. Count all students eligible for sped not just those receiving sped services age 3-21.  Preschool is ages 3-5. Count is from October 1 of the prior year. Count those in private school even if parents do not want services. Who we count for private schools is in our district. No elementary grade for three year olds. Only count three year olds only if in a 4K program. Once a child is enrolled in a private school no longer covered by FAPE just would do a Services Plan. 

*****We need to figure out how much money we are setting aside for private schools. Our obligation to private schools end when our money is out which was set aside. 

Set aside is determined July 1, 2011 - you have until June 30, 2013 to spend. (24 months). You must plan to set aside each year though. 

Direct Services -  You can include costs of transportation to related services In private schools. Speech, PT, DHH etc.  Indirect services - sped training for private school personnel. 

Non eligible expenditures - sped evals, child find activities, administrative costs (clerical, director). Can apply to IDEA just not equitable services

Expenditures not allowed - remodeling of private schools, paying salaries of private school staff for part of their regular duties, RTI costs.

No disposable items like iPads, FM systems, textbooks belong to LEA not private school. No incidental benefit. When student isnt using it any more, the LEA must get back.

****We need to have supporting documentation showing how money was spent in private school. This could be a staff member schedule as part of that on file. 

Reminder to set aside preschool and IDEA funds for private schools. You don't have to claim out of preschool - you could claim completely out of IDEA. $1500 for preschool and $16000 for IDEA. You can take $17500 out of IDEA flow through completely. 

*****DPI is going to monitor equitable services this spring. Have documentation ready to show. 

No deadline for meeting with private schools on annual basis but should probably be before school year starts, 

iDEA - no limit on what can be carried over. Used to be 25 percent. Now there is no limit. 

MOE
Jeff said easier to meet MOE now die to increased carryover amount. MOE is federal requirement and looks at local expenditures not federal grants. MOE has two tests - what is budgeted (eligibility) and then compliance (end of year). Submit by Dec 1. 

MOE
Exceptions - Karen Lach and Monica De Groot retire. Replaced with Amy Wagner and Paul Boettcher. You can use difference. Decrease in enrollment of sped students. High cost student moved out of district. Purchase of costly capital item Iike sped bus is purchased out of state categorical aids. 50% rule. You can use multiple exceptions. There are differences between SEA and LEA MOE.      

 Schoolwide Title 
LEA can use funds under IDEA to support Schoolwide title. Any activities that support district approved action strategies in ESEA plan. Universal costs - salaries, contracted costs, RTI, materials, etc. expend funds at the school level. Must have approved title I Schoolwide schools. 

IDEA is $100,000 and Preschool is $10,000 equals $110,000 divided. H number of sped students like 73. Equals $1,500 per capita. Take $1,500 times number of sped students in Schoolwide schools like 44.  44 times $1,500 equals $66,000 in each school.  Calculation is only a fiscal year allocation. No carryover included from prior year. Funds must be for students who attend that school full time. DPI has a calculator which figures all this out. This is the ceiling or Max amount ($66,000 for example).

Funds are In support of a schools title I Schoolwide activities.  No disposable items like laptops, iPads etc can be used with all students but are still monitored and purchased with IDEA funds.  iPads should be labeled as IDEA federal funded and described as used to help improve student achievement. 

CEIS - option for all, restricted allowables (interventions only, no sped staff), district level, narrative and data collection. Cold get district wide reading computer program. 
Title I - option for schoolwide schools only, flexible allowables, school level only, no narrative or data collection.  Could only get reading computer program for that school.
You can choose both to implement RTI in schools. 

Could use Title I Schoolwide at elementary and CEIS at high school for example. 

fund 10 function 110000 regular education Project code 341

This flexibility may not always be here. Moving IDEA funds over to local costs helps with MOE. This can be done through Schoolwide title. Helps support RTI. Invest in RTI. 
We shouldn't take sped staff out of flow through. Use that money for Schoolwide title activities. Then we can take those sped staff out of general fund to generate categorical aid revenue. 

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