Iowa Department of Education

1. Iowa Department of Education Serving Students: A Leadership Symposium Finance and Allowable Use of Funds: Special and General Education December 16-17, 2014

2. Objectives • Establish baseline understanding of expectations related to school funding principles and student supports • Clarify basic legal and financial requirements for schools and facilities • Clarify permissive and nonpermissive uses of funds for special and general education funding as they relate to facilities

3. Outline • Federal and state law – serving students and funding supports • Who is responsible • Funding of programs • Dillon’s Rule effect • Permissive and nonpermissive uses of general and special education funds • Structures for program delivery that comply with legal parameters

4. Basis in Law

5. Context While providing a good education to students is the primary mission of the Iowa educational system, other factors must be considered One example: Iowa Code (IC) 257.31 Equalize educational opportunity Provide good education for all children of Iowa Provide property tax relief Decrease percentage of school costs paid from property taxes Provide reasonable control of school costs

6. Context • The Iowa Department of Education has a responsibility to multiple constituents: students, parents, teachers and other educators, taxpayers, and the public in general • Balancing interests and operating within the law is essential • Support and pressure are both necessary – one without the other will not allow for positive outcomes

7. What Does the Law Say? • U.S. Constitution • Constitution really does not address education • Amendment 10 states: the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. (First 10 amendments are The Bill of Rights.)

8. What Does the Law Say? • Constitution does give Congress the power to establish and control funding • This provision is how federal oversight now occurs – they establish a fund like federal IDEA Part B and control state and local behavior through a set of regulations setting parameters on how the funds are to be used

9. What Does the Law Say? • State Constitution • Original Iowa Constitution had a couple of sections specific to education (Article IX) • Codified Iowa Constitution mostly says this: • Certain provisions, apparently superseded or obsolete, have been omitted from this codified Iowa Constitution. See original Constitution for omitted language. • Why? Original language set up a structure that was outdated by later code (i.e, Lt. Gov. as head of one state school board over Common Schools)

10. What Does the Law Say? • One interesting section under Legislative Powers grants “Home Rule” to counties • Section 39A. Counties or joint county-municipal corporation governments are granted Home Rule power and authority, not inconsistent with the laws of the general assembly, to determine their local affairs and government, except that they shall not have power to levy any tax unless expressly authorized by the general assembly • Important note: Specific to counties – more later

11. What Does the Law Say? • Legislature establishes law through enacting changes to Iowa Code • State agencies are expressly and singularly authorized to interpret Iowa Code and to further define Iowa Code (IC) [law] through Iowa Administrative Code (IAC) [rule]; rule has the force of law because all rules are legislatively approved • Example: Educational Standards • Law: IC 256.11(5) • Rule: 281 IAC 12(5)

12. What Does the Law Say? • Another principle established by case law is the concept that public funds shall not be used for private purpose • Examples: • School district paying to send a student to a private school and paying the tuition • School using general funds to provide student rewards in the form of gift cards

13. Effect of Dillon’s Rule

14. Dillon’s Rule and Education • Only cities and counties are provided Home Rule per the Iowa Constitution • Everyone else is under Dillon’s Rule • Simply put: • Home Rule: You can do it unless law says you can’t • Dillon’s Rule: You can’t do it unless law says you can

15. Dillon’s Rule and Education • Dillon’s Rule is a very effective way for the legislature to ensure that its will is enacted • Many funds are established for a purpose – ensuring that purpose is what Dillon’s Rule does • Reworking this concept would be a difficult thing for legislators and educators

16. Dillon’s Rule and Education • Example: Legislature wants Jeff to wear a red shirt • Dillon’s Rule: Using the colors of the rainbow, Jeff shall wear a red shirt • Implied • Definition of colors of the rainbow – ROYGBIV • Cannot wear OYGBIV • Home Rule: As it relates to the colors of the rainbow, Jeff cannot wear a shirt colored orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, or violet • Interpretation – Jeff must wear a red shirt • Key Point – Home Rule compels legislature to explicitly say everything they don’t want to happen

17. Dillon’s Rule and Education • Example: Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) • IC 298.3 Revenues from the levies • 1. The revenue from the regular and voter-approved physical plant and equipment levies shall be placed in the physical plant and equipment levy fund and expended only for the following purposes: • a. The purchase and improvement of grounds • ….

18. Dillon’s Rule and Education • In the example under Dillon’s Rule, debate is contained to what is meant by “the purchase and improvement of grounds” • Under Home Rule, the legislature would have established the fund and then would have been required to list all of the ways the fund could not be used

19. Dillon’s Rule and Education • In this example, some of the items that cannot be funded with PPEL include: • Staff salaries and benefits • Actual student transportation costs • Administrative/general costs • Supplies • The only way under Home Rule to limit uses of funds is to list everything that cannot be done with the funds • And, in a Home Rule situation, anything missing from this list would be a legal use

20. Dillon’s Rule and Education • This led to the concept of categorical funding. Legislators wanted to establish funding for a purpose and to be clear on the uses of those funds. Under home rule, establishing all of the nonpermissive uses of funds up front would be a difficult task to do well. • There are constituents who would welcome this latitude • Makes managing a statewide system and implementing any accountability system very difficult

21. What Laws apply?

22. Iowa Educational Law • Essential Iowa Code Chapters • IC 256 Department of Education • IC 256.7 – Duties of the State Board • IC 256.9 – Duties of the Director • IC 256.11 – Educational Standards • IC 256B – Special Education • IC 257 – Financing School Programs • IC 273 – Area Education Agencies • IC 274 – School Districts in General

23. Iowa Educational Law • Essential Iowa Code Chapters • IC 279 – Directors (local boards) – Powers and Duties • IC 280 – Uniform School Requirements • IC 282 – School Attendance and Tuition • IC 298 – School Taxes and Bonds • IC 298A – School District Fund Structure • IC 299 – Compulsory Education

24. Iowa Educational Law • While state law must provide at least as much substantive protection as federal law (and may provide more), state law may be more restrictive in how state funds are used • Federal IDEA Part B regulations must be followed… • …..And so must Iowa law • Understanding requirements of laws related to funding of programs and not complying with the laws is the legal definition of fraud

25. Iowa Educational Law • Special education funding in Iowa is considered categorical (281-IAC 98.1, 17, & 71) • "Categorical funding" means financial support from state and federal governments that is targeted for particular categories of students, special programs, or special purposes. This support is in addition to school district or area education agency general purpose revenue, is beyond the basic educational program, and most often has restrictions on its use. Where categorical funding requires a local match, that local match also is considered to be categorical funding.

26. What have we said?

27. Guidance - December 19, 2013 • In the clarifying guidance and training related to permissive and nonpermissive uses of special and general education funds issued a year ago, the Iowa Department of Education made some generalized statements about what the law requires (Current State) • State Facilities (Eldora, Toledo, Independence, Cherokee) are an exception in law in most cases

28. Current State • DE is attempting to be clear and to ensure that these arrangements meet students’ needs AND comply with existing law • DE believes that program delivery can be adjusted within the law to meet students’ needs • Many districts and facilities are doing this currently

29. Current State • In Iowa, statute says the school district is responsible for the education program delivered in any private facility contained in its boundaries • In terms of education programs, it does not matter whether the program is day treatment or residential • Students are generally placed at these facilities for non-educational reasons

30. Current State • Legally, these facilities are programs under the law, not schools • Education programs delivered in these facilities are public education programs simply delivered at a privately-owned site • Licensed educators should be making educational program decisions for students in these facilities • Any student within the school district’s boundary is the school district’s student

31. Current State • For students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), costs for education must be actual, instructional costs • For students without IEPs, the maximum is the district cost per pupil (DCPP) • Uniform Administrative Procedures (UAP) defines any expenditure over function 2299 as non-instructional. This includes: • Administration • Operations • Transportation • Facilities • Debt service • And others

32. Current State • If the facility is contracted to provide the educational program, it can only bill the school district in which it is located • School district then bills resident districts for educational services, again using the above limitations • All of this should be itemized so the entity responsible for public funds can ensure legal spending occurs

33. Legal Citations

34. Iowa Code Support for Current State • Be mindful of the Dillon’s Rule context for these citations • 299.1A Compulsory attendance age • 1. …a child who has reached the age of six and is under sixteen years of age by September 15 is of compulsory attendance age. However, if a child enrolled in a school district or accredited nonpublic school reaches the age of sixteen on or after September 15, the child remains of compulsory age until the end of the regular school calendar.

35. Iowa Code Support for Current State • 282.1 School age — nonresidents • 1. Persons between five and twenty-one years of age are of school age. Nonresident children shall be charged the maximum tuition rate as determined in section 282.24, subsection 1, with the exception that those residing temporarily in a school corporation may attend school in the corporation upon terms prescribed by the board. A school district discontinuing grades under section 282.7, subsection 1 or 3, shall be charged tuition as provided in section 282.24, subsection 1. • 2. For purposes of this section, “resident”means a child who is physically present in a district, whose residence has not been established in another district by operation of law, and who meets any of the following conditions: • a. Is in the district for the purpose of making a home and not solely for school purposes • b. Meets the definitional requirements of the term “homeless individual” under 42 U.S.C. § 11302(a) and (c) • c. Lives in a juvenile detention center or residential facility in the district

36. Iowa Code Support for Current State • 282.24 Tuition fees established • 1. a. The maximum tuition fee that may be charged for elementary and high school students residing within another school district or corporation except students attending school in another district under section 282.7, subsection 1 or 3, is the district cost per pupil of the receiving district as computed in section 257.10

37. Iowa Code Support for Current State • 282.20 Tuition fees — payment • 1. The school corporation in which the student resides shall pay from the general fund to the secretary of the corporation in which the student is permitted to enroll, a tuition fee as prescribed in section 282.24 • 2. It shall be unlawful for any school district to rebate to any pupils or their parents, directly or indirectly, any portion of the tuition collected or to be collected or to authorize or permit such pupils to receive at the expense of the district, directly or indirectly, any special compensation, benefit, privilege, or other thing of value that is not and cannot legally be made available to all other pupils enrolled in its schools. Any superintendent or board members responsible for such unlawful act shall each be personally liable to a fine of not to exceed one hundred dollars. Action to recover such penalty or action to enjoin such unlawful act may be instituted by the board of any school district or by a taxpayer in any school district.

38. Iowa Code Support for Current State • 256B.2 Definitions — policies — funds • 2. It is the policy of this state to require school districts and state-operated educational programs to provide or make provision, as an integral part of public education, for a free and appropriate public education sufficient to meet the needs of all children requiring special education. This chapter is not to be construed as encouraging separate facilities or segregated programs designed to meet the needs of children requiring special education when the children can benefit from all or part of the education program as offered by the local school district. To the maximum extent possible, children requiring special education shall attend regular classes and shall be educated with children who do not require special education.

39. Iowa Code Support for Current State 281—IAC 41.2 (256B,34CFR300) Applicability of this chapter The provisions of this chapter are binding on each public agency in the state that provides special education and related services to children with disabilities, regardless of whether that agency is receiving funds under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Act). 41.2(1) General. The provisions of this chapter apply to all political subdivisions of the state that are involved in the education of children with disabilities, including: • The state educational agency (SEA). • Local educational agencies (LEAs), area education agencies (AEAs), and public charter schools that are not otherwise included as LEAs or educational service agencies (ESAs) and are not a school of an LEA or ESA. • Other state agencies and schools, including but not limited to the departments of human services and public health and state schools and programs for children with deafness or children with blindness. • State and local juvenile and adult correctional facilities. 41.2(2) Private schools and facilities. Each public agency in the state is responsible for ensuring that the rights and protections under Part B of the Act are given to children with disabilities referred to or placed in private schools and facilities by that public agency; or placed in private schools by their parents under the provisions of rule 281—41.148(256B,34CFR300).

40. Iowa Code Support for Current State • 282.27 Children living in psychiatric hospitals or institutions — payment • The public school district in which is located a psychiatric unit of a hospital licensed under chapter 135B or a psychiatric medical institution for children licensed under chapter 135H, which is not operated by the state, shall be responsible for the provision of educational services to children residing in the unit or institution. Children residing in the unit or institution shall be included in the basic enrollment of their districts of residence, as defined in section 282.31, subsection 4. • The board of directors of each district of residence shall pay to the school district in which is located such psychiatric unit or institution, for the provision of educational services to the child, a portion of the district of residence’s district cost per pupil for each of such children based upon the proportion that the time each child is provided educational services while in such unit or institution is to the total time for which the child is provided educational services during a normal school year

41. Iowa Code Support for Current State • 282.31 Funding for special programs • 2. a. The actual special education instructional costs incurred for a child who lives in a facility or other placement pursuant to section 282.19 or for a child who is placed in a facility or home pursuant to section 282.29, who requires special education and who is not enrolled in the educational program of the district of residence of the child but who receives an educational program from the district in which the facility, home, or other placement is located, shall be paid by the district of residence of the child to the district in which the facility, home, or other placement is located, and the costs shall include the cost of transportation

42. Iowa Code Support for Current State • 257.31 Duties of the School Budget Review Committee • 4. Not later than January 1, 1992, the committee shall adopt recommendations relating to the implementation by school districts and area education agencies of procedures pertaining to the preparation of financial reports in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and submit those recommendations to the state board of education. The state board shall consider the recommendations and adopt rules under section 256.7 specifying procedures and requiring the school districts and area education agencies to conform to generally accepted accounting principles commencing with the school year beginning July 1, 1996. • Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) implementation defined by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Uniform Financial Accounting (UFA) manual

43. Iowa Code Support for Current State • 281—IAC 98.1 • "Supplement, not supplant" means that the categorical funding shall be in addition to general purpose revenues; that categorical funding shall not be used to provide services required by federal or state law, administrative rule, or local policy; and that general purpose revenues shall not be diverted for other purposes because of the availability of categorical funding. Supplanting is presumed to have occurred if the school district or area education agency uses categorical funding to provide services that it was required to make available under other categorical funding or law, or uses categorical funding to provide services that it provided in prior years from general purpose revenues, or uses categorical funding to provide services to a particular group of children or programs for which it uses general purpose revenues to provide the same or similar services to other groups of children or programs. These presumptions are rebuttable if the school district or area education agency can demonstrate that it would not have provided the services in question with general purpose revenues if the categorical funding had not been available.

44. What is Legal related to Special Education Financing?

45. General Finance • No indirect costs allowed unless in Code • Supplements general program and doesn’t replace • Funding not used is carried forward; still categorical • If the source is discontinued, two years to close the project out; still categorical • Expenditures limited to direct costs of the program • One cost cannot be applied to multiple funding sources • Charge expenditures to the extent that is provided by the source, nothing above • Accounted for separately, no commingling

46. Direct Costs Expenditures • Necessary for program • No allocated, indirect, or overhead unless expressly allowed • Not used for local match • Shall not exceed the total of the current year’s funding or allocation plus any carry forward

47. Supplement, Not Supplant • Addition to General Purpose Revenues/Expenditures • Shall not provide services that: • Are required by state or federal or other categorical funding • Were provided in prior years from general purpose revenues • Are similar to services provided to other students from general purpose revenues • Trying to allocate costs across various groups of children to take advantage of categorical funding is NOT appropriate  • For example 1:1 initiative cannot be allocated to talented and gifted (TAG) for the students who are in TAG, to special education for students who are in special education, to limited English proficient (LEP) for students who are in LEP; these initiatives are general and trying to allocate them to the various categories of funding is supplanting • Rebuttable

48. Rebuttable • Criteria • Demonstrate expenditure would not have been provided with general purpose funding if categorical funding were not available • Demonstrate expenditure is a direct cost: • Necessary due to something unique to the program • Not otherwise needed or otherwise provided to similar programs • In addition to those normally incurred (supplement, not supplant) • Measurable directly without allocating • Look for authorizing email or letter from DE program manager (not locally determined)

49. Special Education Weighting Program • Appropriate uses: • Costs delineated on the pupils’ IEPs that are direct costs of providing instruction and services • Includes specialized physical education, travel, training, or accommodations for extracurricular activities • Modifications, adaptations or special accommodations in order to benefit from instruction • Salary and benefits for special education licensed teacher for portion devoted to program; also paraeducators designated in IEPs • Staff development/travel for special educationteachers or targeted professional development (PD) • Specialized supplies, equipment

50. Special Education Weighting Program • Appropriate uses – cont’d: • Health services delineated in IEP • Specialized transportation equipment (lifts/ramps) • Vehicles if specialized, exclusive, and required by IEP • Tuition to another district for providing education on behalf of resident district • Administrative costs (principal or special education director and his/her clerical support) ONLY IF approved by the School Budget Review Committee (SBRC)