Special Education Base Funding (AB 602)

State apportionment and Federal grant revenues are passed through by the SELPA to our partners throughout the year. The tabs below provide access to cash flow, budgeting, forecasting and federal grant reporting details

The SELPA monitors special education funding data throughout the year and issues budget advice for state and federal revenue based on tracking and analyzing this data. Projected cash flow is determined based on this budget advice, and is updated at each certification or expenditure reporting period. Current budget advice appears below. Click on the links to the right for the most current cash flow schedules.

Current Budget Advice (rates are shown prior to admin fee/set aside)

 

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Special education budgeting is an important component of a charter school’s overall school budget, particularly given the variability in expenditures the program can introduce from year to year. The resources here are offered to assist your program/business team navigate the budgeting process.

adobe pdf icon Budgeting Summary of Guidance Charter

 

 

Unlike state special education revenue apportionments, the cash flow from which is based on a predetermined schedule, federal revenues require expenditure reporting, The SELPA calls for federal expenditure reports three times during the year in order to facilitate regular federal cash flow. Expenditure reports are submitted using the online Fiscal Portal.

Business Office Resources

The governance body in a SELPA establishes the SELPA’s allocation plan. The El Dorado Charter SELPA’s allocation plan represents over a decade of CEO Council decisions about how best to distribute to partners Special Education funds received by the SELPA.

The resources below summarize guidance published by the federal Office of Special Education (OSEP) regarding allowable expenditures for IDEA funds, and coordinated early interevening services (CEIS). Although, California has not published similar guidance, any expenditure that can be related back to a student’s IEP is generally considered an allowable use of state special education funding.

The online Fiscal Portal is your one-stop shop for all SELPA fiscal reporting and related data submissions.

Electronic receipt of funds offers safety and more timely receipt of payments vs. paper checks. We strongly encourage joining our direct deposit program. Follow the link below to the Fiscal Portal for ACH registration.

Details on the Special Education revenue payments sent to SELPA partners are available here.

While a detailed list of all SELPA fiscal due dates and activities is available at the bottom of this web page in our dynamic calendar, this at-a-glance yearly calendar is a handy desk reference.

Following is a graphical overview of the yearly fiscal cycle as well as detailed graphics for specific fiscal reports.

Each month (beginning in June 2017), a newsletter-style Fiscal Update e-mail is published. You may read the most recent editions by following the links below. If you would like to be placed on the mailing list, click the subscription link and let us know.

Mental Health (ERMHS) Funding

Meeting the mental health service needs of students identified with disabilities is a critical and at times costly component of special education program delivery. ERMHS funding guidelines are derived from the applicable sections in the CEO Council approved Allocation Plan. The intent of the ERMHS guidelines is to ensure adequate and equitable distribution of the mental health revenue received by the SELPA.

Funding for Educational Related Mental Health Services (ERMHS) is an elective process. To apply, please read the guidelines and complete the Annual Mental Health Plan.

Level 2 funding is provided for less intensive Mental Health supports (500 series CASEMIS codes).

Level 3 ERMHS funding is provided for more intensive mental health support

ERMHS Resources

All ERMHS-related uploads and reports may be completed through the fiscal portal.

For access to Level 3 ERMHS funding, a master contract for each service provider must be filed with the SELPA, and an individual services contract (ISA) for each student receiving services must also be filed.

Detail on the Mental Health (ERMHS) revenue payments distributed is contained in the payment data below.

There are critical submissions during the year each LEA must manage in order to guarantee ERMHS revenue. This at-a-glance chart will help you navigate the key dates associated with the ERMHS revenue participation process.

The detail of the ERMHS process is available here.

Additional Funding & Risk Pools

Partners may choose to apply for advance or reimbursement funding from three sources established by the allocation plan: the cash advance for new partners, Low Incidence pool, or Legal Risk pool.

As many of our new partners will not receive a regularly scheduled disbursement until February, new partners may apply for a cash advance to help cover initial operating expenses.

Partners may apply for low incidence reimbursement to help cover the costs associated with providing material and/or services to students identified with low incidence disabilities.

To address potential issues with a parent proactively, El Dorado Charter SELPA partners are strongly encouraged to contact their assigned Program Specialist, who is trained in Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), anytime the situation warrants. In the unfortunate instance where a partner faces a due process hearing, the Legal Risk pool is there to defray related legal costs.

Year End & Maintenance of Effort

The close of each school year brings a flurry of activity at a time when attention spans are short but the need for focus and accuracy is acute.

The year end planning resources offered at right should help partners prepare and execute the required end of year processes.

One of the federal grant requirements is that federal revenue may supplement, but not supplant, revenue from state and local sources. In general, federal Maintenance of Effort (MOE) compliance requires an LEA receiving federal funds to spend the same amount from state and local sources each year prior to spending federal special education revenue. The Charter SELPA offers ongoing training and resource guides to assist Charters in meeting MOE testing. The required expenditure information to conduct this testing is submitted via the Fiscal Portal.

Another element of the “supplement but not supplant” requirement for receipt of federal revenue is the Excess Cost calculation. Federal revenue may only pay for the excess costs of providing special Education and related services. Excess costs for special Education are those costs for the education of a student identified with a disability that are in excess of the average spent to educate a general education student. The Business Services Team performs the Excess Cost calculation on behalf of each member LEA to ensure compliance with this requirement.

For Organization Partners in the SELPA, income reallocation from one LEA member to another can assist with passing MOE compliance testing, managing unspent funds among the LEA network, and equalizing local contributions.

MOE & Year End Resources

The definitions and instructions for both the MOE pre-test and the year-end MOE are identical. You may access them here.

This handy guide will help you navigate the year end process.

The resources below summarize guidance published by the federal Office of Special Education (OSEP) regarding allowable expenditures for IDEA funds, and coordinated early intervening services (CEIS).

Business Meetings and Professional Learning Opportunities

The Business Services Team offers both in-person and online meetings and workshops that provide technical information on special education funding and content to help build effective program-business teams.

The business side of special education in California is unique. The Charter SELPA conducts in-person, half-day workshops in late summer designed to prepare special education program/business teams for the new school year. For travel and calendar convenience, four SpEd Business 101 workshops are held around the state. The agenda consists of:

  • a review of the El Dorado Charter SELPA Allocation Plan;
  • budget advice for the upcoming year;</li?
  • details regarding special education cash flow schedules;
  • the mechanics of reporting via the online Fiscal Portal; and
  • tracking SELPA fiscal-related communications.

This workshop is an excellent educational opportunity for first-year SELPA partners, new members of your internal and/or outsourced school program/business team, as well as any program or business contributor wanting to build an understanding of SELPA fiscal processes. The presentation materials are posted on our website following the final workshop.

Building special education program capacity requires teamwork between a school’s business and program staff. Program informs business; business enables program. The Charter SELPA’s Program/Business Buzz Sessions allow your school’s team to sign up for 30-minute, one-on-one conversations via the web with the Charter SELPA’s program and fiscal directors.
Input on your idea for taking the next step in building special education capacity? A review of SELPA procedures related to a particular program or fiscal area? Feedback about your school’s special education program or fiscal practices? The agenda is defined by you.
Contact us at charterselpabusiness@edcoe.org to schedule your time slot.

This online workshop presented in the spring is structured to review final revenue numbers for the current year, provide an overview of fiscal considerations and compliance requirements for year-end, and deliver initial budget advice for the following year. Attendance by your special education and fiscal leads is strongly encouraged.

The Charter SELPA CEO Council meets twice each year (fall and spring). Fiscal Committee meetings are an opportunity for all Charter SELPA business staff to receive updates from the CEO Council Meetings. These 45-60 minute online meetings are scheduled shortly after each CEO Council Meeting. The meetings provide a quick update on any CEO Council actions that impact the business office, as well as updates related to state, federal, and educationally related mental health funding. All materials are subsequently posted on our website.

SELPA Business Office Communication

We distribute a monthly e-newsletter outlining upcoming reporting dates, scheduled events, and general special education business news.

The Fiscal Update e-newsletter is published the first of each month with the goal of keeping the field informed of funding updates, upcoming reporting dates, and helpful resources. To subscribe, let us know!

Questions?

Click here to contact the Fiscal Support Team!