POLICY LETTER: January 30, 2013 to Carol Hokenson

January 30, 2013Carol Hokenson, ManagerEducation Funding and DataDivision of Program FinanceMinnesota Department of Education1500 Highway 36 WestRoseville, Minnesota 55113-4266Dear Ms. Hokenson:This is in response to your October 27, 2011 letter to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education (Department). I apologize for the delay in responding. In your letter, you requested that OSEP provide clarification of provisions in Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) related to coordinated early intervening services (CEIS) and the maintenance of effort (MOE) by local educational agencies (LEAs). Your questions and OSEP's responses are below.CEISIn your letter, you describe the Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services (ADSIS) program as a State program defined in Minnesota Statute 125A.50 to provide prevention services as an alternative to special education and other compensatory programs. A district with an approved program may provide instruction and services in a regular education classroom, or an area learning center, to eligible pupils. Pupils eligible to participate in the program are pupils who need additional academic or behavioral support to succeed in the general education environment and who may eventually qualify for special education instruction or related services if the intervention services authorized by this section were unavailable. You further indicated that students with disabilities are also served in this program.For fiscal year (FY) 2012, a district previously approved in FY 2006 to provide the ADSIS program is proposing to reinstitute the program and fund it from a combination of State special education aid, local district funds, and funds made available under the IDEA for CEIS (CEIS funds). The district plans to use the CEIS funds for the fringe benefits of ADSIS staff providing positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and to cover the non-reimbursable costs (not funded by the State special education formula) of their ADSIS program such as equipment, supplies, materials and costs for data tracking.Question 1:Can a district use CEIS funds to cover a portion of the cost of its ADSIS program if the program meets the requirements of CEIS such as targeted at risk population, general education based inOur response to your questions about the use of CEIS funds assumes that the LEA is not using these funds in a Title I schoolwide school under the ESEA pursuant to 34 CFR 300.206. An LEA may use CEIS funds for the fringe benefits of ADSIS staff providing positive behavioral intervention and supports (hereinafter referred to as teacher) to students who are not currently identified as needing special education or related services but who need additional academic and behavioral support to succeed in a general education environment. See Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-87, Attachment B, 8. (Compensation for personal services), codified at 2 CFR Part 225, Appendix B, 8. The LEA may wish to consider split funding the teacher using IDEA Part B special education funds, general education funds, and CEIS funds if the teacher is providing services to students with disabilities, students who are not currently identified as needing special education or related services but who need additional academic and behavioral support to succeed in a general education environment, and nondisabled students who do not need additional support. This funding mechanism offers full flexibility for a particular teacher to work with diverse groups of students, regardless of disability or intervention status. If a teacher is supported by funds from several sources, an LEA must document separately, consistent with OMB Circular A-87, the amount of time the teacher spends providing services to students with disabilities, services to students who are not currently identified as needing special education or related services but who need additional academic and behavioral support to succeed in a general education environment, and services to nondisabled students who do not need additional support, to ensure that IDEA Part B funds are properly expended. You have also asked whether an LEA can use CEIS funds to cover the non-reimbursable costs (not funded by the State special education formula) of the ADSIS program, such as the purchase of equipment, supplies, materials, and costs for data tracking. If these costs are related to providing services to students with disabilities, and nondisabled students who do not need additional support, as well as students who are not currently identified as needing special education or related services but who need additional support; the LEA could use an amount(a) The voluntary departure, by retirement or otherwise, or departure for just cause, of special education or related services personnel.(b) A decrease in the enrollment of children with disabilities.(c) The termination of the obligation of the agency, consistent with this part, to provide a program of special education to a particular child with a disability that is an exceptionally costly program, as determined by the SEA, because the child(1) Has left the jurisdiction of the agency;(2) Has reached the age at which the obligation of the agency to provide FAPE to the child has terminated; or(3) No longer needs the program of special education.(d) The termination of costly expenditures for long-term purchases, such as the acquisition of equipment or the construction of school facilities.(e) The assumption of cost by the high cost fund operated by the SEA under 300.704(c).The LEA may wish to thoroughly examine its expenditures that have been reduced to determine if any of the expenditures may be covered by the circumstances above. Based on section 607(e) of the IDEA, we are informing you that our response is provided as informal guidance and is not legally binding, but represents an interpretation by the U.S. Department of Education of the IDEA in the context of the specific facts presented.If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact Melissa Turner at 202-245-6415 or by email at Melissa.Turner@ed.gov.Sincerely,/s/ Melody MusgroveMelody Musgrove, Ed.D.DirectorOffice of Special Education Programscc: State Director of Special Education Section 8.d. of Attachment B of OMB Circular A-87 provides principles to be applied in determining the allowability of the costs of fringe benefits and section 8.h. describes the standards regarding time distribution. Sections 15 and 26 of Appendix B of OMB Circular A-87 provide principles to be applied in determining the allowability of the costs of equipment and materials and supplies. See also, 34 CFR 80.32 for requirements related to equipment.Page PAGE 4 Carol Hokenson