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Updated ODE Guidance: 3-18-09

AMERICAN RECOVERY & REINVESTMENT ACT of 2009

FUNDING UNDER

THE INDIVIDUALS with DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT (IDEA) 

This document includes four questions relative to ARRA funding under IDEA, including allocations, suggestions for use of these funds and clarification on maintenance of effort (MOE).
 
1. What is the special education allocation for Oregon?
There are three allocations for Oregon under IDEA. Estimates from the Department of Education (dated 2/19/09) state:
 
*Additional funds from IDEA Part B 611 (ages 5 – 21 years)
$128,979,436
50% end of March to get to programs end of April
 50% between July 1, 2009–October 1, 2009
Additional funds for Part B 619 Pre School (3-5 years) 
$3,999,911      
50% end of March to get to programs end of April
 50% between July 1, 2009–October 1, 2009
Additional funds for Part C Infants, Toddlers and Families (birth – 2)
$4,705,556   

Distribution and spending guidelines not yet announced but may assume similar requirements

*This document addresses only IDEA Part B 611 funds. Guidance for the early
childhood programs will be under a separate cover at a later date.
 
2. What are the considerations for these IDEA Part B 611 funds?
  • To save and create jobs, supplement  but do not supplant (suggestions below)
  • To invest in sustainable results rather than ongoing commitments (suggestions below)
  • To accurately measure and track results of the spending and outcomes (guidelines are forthcoming and will be shared immediately upon receipt)
  •  To comply with maintenance of effort requirements (described below)
3. What are some valid expenditures for the IDEA funds?
Additional details on the suggestions below will follow, but for now here are some ideas that will support students and staff.
 
Student Focus
  • Purchase state of the art assistive technology and conduct  subsequent professional development in its use
  • Purchase new resources and materials for use in instruction
  • Contract with experts in behavioral intervention or instructional intervention to improve instruction for students
Staff Focus
  • Provide intensive professional development on evidence-based practices for academics and behavior
  • Conduct district-wide training on use of a single progress monitoring tool
  • Develop or expand the capacity to collect and use data to improve teaching and learning and to monitor progress
  • Create development time for staff to align IEP with content standards
  • Create planning time for school teams to prepare for IEP meetings, data review meetings, and improvement planning
  • Provide intensive district-wide professional development for special and general education teachers that focuses on scaling up, through replication, proven and innovative evidence-based school-wide strategies in reading, math, writing and science, and positive behavioral supports to improve student outcomes
Expand Certification Options
  • Assist special education teachers in meeting the HQT rule under NCLB for teaching core reading
  • Fund internal candidates to become certified in speech pathology (utilizing the new on-line program)
  • Fund internal candidates to become speech pathology assistants
Expand Staff to Support Student Outcomes
  • Fund coaches in reading and behavior for RTI and PBS
  • Support development of the more intense services under PBS and RTI (red and yellow zones)
  • Employ Instructional Assistants to assist in the inclusion efforts that enhance access to the general education curriculum (including techniques for students with autism and their families)
  • Employ transition coordinators to work with community employers to develop job placements for youth with disabilities
  • Employ secondary transition staff to improve post school outcomes for students with disabilities
4. What do I need to know about maintenance of effort and non-supplanting under the IDEA funds? 
 
Guidance on Maintenance of Effort and Non-Supplanting Requirements
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) appropriates significant additional funding for programs under Part B: 611 of IDEA.   Both the base IDEA allocation and the stimulus IDEA allocation are distributed by federally designated formula to local educational agencies (LEAs) to help them ensure that children with disabilities, ages 5-21, have access to a free appropriate public education to meet each child’s unique needs and prepare him or her for further education, employment, and independent living.
 
In addition to the annual base IDEA allocation, Oregon will receive approximately $128 million in IDEA Part B: 611 recovery funds over the next two fiscal years. Preliminary information about each state’s allocation is available at: http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/Statetables/recovery.html. This web site also provides information about the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) under the ARRA, which is separate from the IDEA recovery funds described in this document. This part of the document distinguishes between the ARRA Stability Fund, and the IDEA Part B 611 base allocation and IDEA Part B recovery act allocation. The balance of the document focuses on Maintenance of Effort and Non-Supplanting requirements related to IDEA Part B: Section 611, for services to children with identified disabilities ages 5-21.
 
Differentiating Between IDEA uses in the State Fiscal Stability Fund (SFSF)
and Additional IDEA Allocations to States 
It is critical to distinguish between the SFSF and IDEA grants allocated to state education agencies because the maintenance of effort and non-supplanting requirements differ greatly between the two separate funding streams.
 
State Fiscal Stability Fund (SFSF)
The majority of this fund is distributed by formula to states. The SFSF allows districts to use their SFSF formula allocations for many purposes, with one option being expenditures on children with identified disabilities in special education services. If a district chooses to use SFSF funds for special education purpose, there are Maintenance of Effort and Non-Supplanting ramifications that differ from those applied to the IDEA Part B: 611 base allocation and recovery act funds that go out as formula grants. 
 
*The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund includes maintenance of effort provision where districts could use federal funds to enable them to maintain effort for fiscal 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.  With prior approval from the Secretary of Education, a state or LEA may count SFSF (but not IDEA recovery funds) under the ARRA that are used for special education and related services as non-federal funds for purposes of determining whether the state or LEA has met the IDEA, Part B MOE requirements.
 
IDEA Part B Section 611 Funds: Base Grant/ Recovery Act Allocation/Spending Timeline
The United States Department of Education will award 50 percent of the IDEA, Part B: 611 recovery funds to states by the end of March 2009. States are expected to distribute these funds expeditiously to districts by the end of April 2009.
 
The other 50 percent will be awarded by October 1, 2009. These awards will be in addition to the regular Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Part B: 611 Grants to States.
 
Together, these grant awards will constitute a state’s total FY 2009 Part B Grants to States allocations. Districts eligibility for the first 50 percent of the IDEA recovery funds is based on eligibility established by the district for FY 2008 funds.
 
An LEA is expected to use the IDEA recovery funds expeditiously. An LEA should obligate the majority of these funds during school years 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 and the remainder during school year 2010–2011. States may begin obligating IDEA, Part B recovery funds immediately upon the effective date of the grant. All IDEA recovery funds must be obligated by September 30, 2011.
 
Maintenance of Effort Requirements for Part B grants and Part B recovery act funds
Both the traditional Part B: 611 grants and the IDEA Part B: 611 recovery act funds are subject to the same Maintenance of Effort and Non-Supplanting provisions of IDEA 2004. In this regard they differ greatly from the use of SFSF funds for children with disabilities.
 
For Fiscal Year 2009-2010, districts will need to expend the same level of ESD and LEA Fund 320 expenses as in 2008-2009 in order to maintain effort for IDEA Part B: 611. In Fiscal year 2010-2011, district will need to expend the same level of ESD and LEA Fund 320 expenses as in 2009-2010 in order to maintain effort for IDEA Part B: 611.
 
As is currently the case with traditional IDEA grants, an LEA may be able to reduce the level of state and local expenditures otherwise required by the IDEA LEA maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements. Generally, under section 613(a)(2)(C), in any fiscal year that an LEA’s IDEA allocation exceeds the amount the LEA received in the previous year, under certain circumstances, the LEA may reduce the level of state and local expenditures by up to 50 percent of the amount of the increase, as long as the LEA uses those freed-up local funds for activities that could be supported under the ESEA, and so long as the district has not been found to be significantly disproportionate in identifying children with disabilities on the basis of race, ethnicity, disability type, or disciplinary activity. 
 
If an LEA takes advantage of this provision, the required MOE for future years is reduced consistent with the reduction it took, unless the LEA increases the amount of its state and local expenditures on its own.
 
The law provides for four exceptions to this local prohibition related, among other things, to enrollment decreases of children with disabilities, or to cases where the LEA's Part B allocation increases from the prior year and the LEA elects to use these funds to carry out activities under the ESEA. However, there is no provision authorizing waiver of the local maintenance of effort requirement based on economic conditions or loss of local revenue.
 
Non-supplanting Requirements under IDEA
With regard to non-supplanting, school districts may use Federal funds only to supplement and, to the extent practical, increase the level of funds that would, in the absence of the Federal funds, be made available from non-Federal sources for the education of participating students. In no case may a school district use Federal program funds to supplant—take the place of—funds from non-Federal sources.
 
Supplanting is presumed to occur in the following instances:
·        The local educational agency or school district uses Federal funds to provide services that it is required to make available under other Federal, State or local law.
·        The agency or school district uses Federal funds to provide services that it provided with non-Federal funds in the immediate prior years.
 
Because of the importance of the supplement/supplant requirement, it is critical that agencies and school districts maintain good fiscal records and other documentation that will permit an auditor or program monitor to conclude that they have overcome a presumption that supplanting has occurred.
 
Additional questions regarding IDEA base grant and IDEA recovery act funds should be directed to Eric Richards at 503-947-5786 or eric.richards@state.or.us.