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Programs and Services » Special Education Funding & Compliance » Funding & Compliance

Funding & Compliance

 
ESC-20 provides training and technical assistance with federal funding requirements for Special Education.
 
Topics include Allowable Costs, eGrants Application, Excess Cost Calculation, High Cost Funds, and Maintenance of Effort.
 
Please select the topics displayed below or displayed on the right side of this webpage.
 
Throughout this webpage, when we refer to students with disabilities, we are referring to students with an IEP (Individualized Education Program) under IDEA-B.
 
We use acronyms and abbreviations frequently when addressing special education topics.
 
Several steps must be completed in a certain order before the LEA can access and submit the Special Education Consolidated Grant Application for IDEA-B funding.
 
Some steps must be completed by all LEAs, including LEAs that are members of a special education shared services arrangement (SSA), whose Fiscal Agent submits the Special Education Consolidated Grant application on their behalf.
 
The SSA members must complete the Special Education Consolidated Applicant Designation Form (Federal) before the Fiscal Agent submits the Special Education Consolidated Grant Application (Federal)
 
Step One: 2021-2022 SC5003 Formula Grants Consolidated Schedule, available under the Special Collections heading in eGrants, must be completed. This one schedule is applicable to three grant programs: ESSA, IDEA-B, and Perkins. One person at your organization should be designated to complete and submit the schedule, in collaboration with input from the three program areas.
 
Step Two: 2021-2022 Special Education Consolidated Applicant Designation Form (Federal) must be completed and submitted. This form only becomes available after the SC5003 has been submitted. This Applicant Designation Form (a.k.a. ADC) will be located under the Grants heading in eGrants.
 
Select the option for "Apply for Eligible Grants" and then select the link to "2021-2022 Special Education Consolidated Grant Application (Federal)" to be taken to the link for the "2021-2022 Special Education Consolidated Applicant Designation Form (Federal)".
 
If you are an independent LEA (not part of a special education SSA), complete Lines 1 and 2 in Part 1 by selecting the option "Apply on Own." If you do not wish to be allocated the IDEA-B Formula and/or IDEA-B Preschool funds, select "Not Apply at All" for that program. None of the other options are applicable to you. Line 3 is not applicable to you. The form must then be certified and submitted by the authorized official.
 
If you are a Fiscal Agent of a special education SSA, select the option "Apply as Fiscal Agent of SSA" for Lines 1 and 2 in Part 1. You must complete and submit this form before any of your SSA members complete this form for their organization. The form must then be certified and submitted by the authorized official.
 
If you are a member of a special education SSA, select the option "Apply as Member of SSA" for Lines 1 and 2 in Part 1. Select your Fiscal Agent's name from the drop down menu for "Designated Fiscal Agent Name." Do not complete and submit this form before your Fiscal Agent submits their form. Line 3 is not applicable to you. The form must then be certified and submitted by the authorized official.
 
Step Three: If you are an independent LEA, or a Fiscal Agent of a special education SSA, complete the 2021-2022 Special Education Consolidated Grant Application (Federal). The application will become available on June 9, 2021 IF the 21-22 SC5003 and the 21-22 Special Ed ADC forms have been submitted.
 
TEA Training: TEA provided a virtual training on how to complete the application. The recorded presentation is available on TEA's youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41J3IzsfU0w&t=7s
The eGrants application no longer requires specific positions to be budgeted in the application. Instead, the applicant checks boxes to indicate whether special education positions are LEA level (district-wide) or Campus level, and whether the positions are considered Professional or Paraprofessional.  It is your local determination regarding the distinction.
 
You must maintain local documentation of the types of positions being paid with federal IDEA-B funds. Best practice is to utilize a list of positions such as those displayed in the 19-20 Special Education Consolidated grant application since those pre-populated positions are allowable with IDEA-B funds.
 
For your convenience, ESC-20 created a Payroll Positions template you may modify to meet your local needs for documentation purposes. 
Grant Management Workshops for 21-22 are listed in the document below.
 
Each participant must register in Connect20 first. Registered participants will then be provided the link to the ZOOM meeting. Please ensure your email address associated with your Connect20 account is accurate.
 
Please do not share the ZOOM link with others because the link is for your individual use only. Each participant must first be registered in Connect20 before receiving the ZOOM link. The Connect20 registration is not a group registration.
 
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Federal regulations require LEAs to maintain effective control over, and accountability for, all funds, property, and other assets purchased with federal funds and assure they are used solely for authorized purposes.
 
In addition, LEAs must have written procedures for determining the allowability of costs in accordance with Federal Cost Principles and the terms and conditions of the federal award.
 
Ensure that you are aware of the Federal Cost Principles outlined in 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E Cost Principles.
 
Also, review TEA's Program Guidelines for allowable costs for your IDEA-B award, located on TEA's Grant Opportunities webpage.
 
Use the search options to locate the Special Education Consolidated Grant Application (Federal) for the specific year of your grant. Appendix A of the Program Guidelines lists allowable costs by class object category.
The Excess Cost requirement under IDEA-B stipulates that LEAs must not use IDEA-B funds to pay for all the costs directly attributable to the education of a child with a disability.
 
An LEA meets the Excess Cost requirement if it spends at least a minimum average amount for the education of its children with disabilities from other sources (from non-IDEA-B funds).
 
The LEA must demonstrate that it meets the Excess Cost requirement of IDEA-B by annually completing an Excess Cost Calculation.
 
TEA's Excess Cost Calculator Tool and Excess Cost Guidance Handbook are located on TEA's Excess Cost website. 
The High Cost Fund (HCF) is an additional source of federal funds that addresses the financial impact on the budget of an LEA providing FAPE to a student with disabilities whose needs exceed the typical needs of a child with a disability.
 
This is an optional source of funds.
 
TEA's High Cost Fund website provides information on how to apply for an award.
 
The 2020-2021 HCF application opened 3/15/21 and closed 5/15/21.
 
Awards were finalized 7/1/21. Log into your HCF application in TEAL to view your award amount. Print the cover sheet and student demographic pages for your local records. Use the ESC-20 template to determine the award per student.
 
RECLASSIFY ORIGINAL EXPENDITURES:
TEA will deposit your LEA's HCF award directly into your bank account, during July or early August. Once your deposit is verified, reclassify your original expenditures (expenditures approved in your HCF application) to Fund 226.
IDEA-B Maintenance of Effort (MOE) is a federal requirement for any LEA that receives IDEA-B funds, whether directly from TEA or indirectly if you are a member of a special education shared services arrangement (SSA) whose Fiscal Agent receives the IDEA-B funds on behalf of its members.
 
LEAs are required to spend at least the same amount of state and/or local funds for special education expenditures that was spent in the most recent prior year in which the LEA was compliant with MOE, unless the LEA qualifies for exceptions and/or adjustment.
 
TEA's IDEA-B LEA Maintenance of Effort webpage provides information about MOE and also provides a calculation tool and exceptions tool for the specific year being monitored.
TEA's Final 2019-2020 IDEA-B LEA MOE Compliance Review is now posted in GFFC via TEAL.
 
Page 2 displays the amount that needs to be spent in 2020-2021 to be compliant with FY21 MOE, unless the LEA qualifies for exceptions and/or adjustment in 2020-2021. 
Analysis of 2020-2021 MOE Compliance: 
 
TEA's 2020-2021 IDEA-B LEA MOE Calculation tool is available on the TEA IDEA-B LEA Maintenance of Effort webpage. Please note that one version of the tool is for ISDs and a separate version of the tool is for Charter Schools.
 
ISDs: Ignore results for Tests 1 and 3 for now because the tool requires data from the 2020-2021 Summary of Finances, first "Near Final" payment cycle, for determination of expenditures from Local Only funds.
Template for monitoring 2020-2021 AND 2021-2022 compliance with IDEA-B MOE, Test 2 only.
 
You may like to use a template developed by ESC-20 to help estimate compliance with IDEA-B MOE for 20-21 and 21-22. The template analyzes results for Test 2 only, since that is the easiest test to monitor.
 
Test 2 is based on total special education expenditures from a combination of your state and local funds (Funds 199, 420, 437).
Templates for determining eligibility for MOE Voluntary Reduction in 2020-2021 AND 2021-2022.
 
You may like to use a template developed by ESC-20 to help determine eligibility for MOE Voluntary Reduction in 20-21 and 21-22.
 
Please do not use the 21-22 template until Final 21-22 IDEA-B Formula allocations have been posted (around Dec 2021 or January 2022).
The Special Ed Funding livebinder is a collaborative effort of Education Service Center (ESC) Regions 4, 10, 13, and 20 to create a special education funding manual.
 
The binder includes content compiled from multiple sources, practical tools for the administrator, and training materials for use by ESC and LEA staff. Please note, some of the content may not be up-to-date.
 
Recommendation: Use Google Chrome as the internet browser when accessing the Special Ed Funding binder. Some of the resources do not open properly when using Internet Explorer.