13.07 Payment of Special Education Aid in Special Situations

13.07.01 Reimbursement to District for Nonresident Pupils, Including Day Program Placement

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For the purposes of this section any school district may enter into an agreement, upon mutually agreed upon terms and conditions, to provide special instruction and services for children with a disability. In that event, one of the participating units may employ and contract with necessary qualified personnel to offer services in the several districts. Each participating unit must reimburse the employing unit a proportionate amount of the actual cost of providing the special instruction and services, less the amount of state special education aid, which shall be claimed in full by the employing district. Minn. Stat. § 125A.11, subd. 3.

13.07.02 Special Pupil Aid/Full State Payment

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The state must pay each district the actual cost incurred in providing instruction and services for a child whose district of residence has been determined by section 125A.17 or 125A.51, paragraph (b) and who is temporarily placed in a state institution or a licensed residential facility, or foster facility for care and treatment. The regular education program at the facility must be an approved program according to section 125A.515.

Upon following the procedure specified by the commissioner, the district may bill the state the actual cost incurred in providing the services including transportation costs and a proportionate amount of capital expenditures and debt service, minus the amount of the basic revenue, as defined in section 126C.10, subdivision 2, of the district for the child and the special education aid, transportation aid, and any other aid earned on behalf of the child. The limit in subdivision 2 applies to aid paid pursuant to this subdivision.

To the extent possible, the commissioner shall obtain reimbursement from another state for the cost of serving any child whose parent or guardian resides in that state. The commissioner may contract with the appropriate authorities of other states to effect reimbursement. All money received from other states must be paid to the state treasury and placed in the general fund. Minn. Stat. § 125A.75, subd. 3.

13.07.03 Treatment of Charter Schools and their Children

In carrying out Part B of the Act and these regulations with respect to charter schools that are public schools of the LEA, the LEA must --

(i) Serve children with disabilities attending those schools in the same manner as the LEA serves children with disabilities in its other schools, including providing supplementary and related services on site at the charter school to the same extent to which the LEA has a policy or practice of providing such services on the site to its other public schools; and

(ii) Provides funds under Part of the Act to those charter schools --

(A) On the same basis as the LEA provides funds to the LEA's other public schools, including proportional distribution based on relative enrollment of children with disabilities; and

(B) At the same time as the LEA distributes other Federal funds to the LEA's other public schools, consistent with the State's charter school law.

(2) If the public charter school is a school of an LEA that receives funding under § 300.705 and includes other public schools -

(i) The LEA is responsible for ensuring that the requirements of this part are met, unless State law assigns that responsibility to some other entity; and

(ii) The LEA must meet the requirements of paragraph (b)(1) of this section. 34 C.F.R. § 300.209(b).

If the public charter school is an LEA, consistent with § 300.28, that receives funding under § 300.705, that charter school is responsible for ensuring that the requirements of this part are met, unless State law assigns that responsibility to some other entity. 34 C.F.R. § 300.209(c).

If the public charter school is not an LEA receiving funds under § 300.705, or a school that is part of an LEA receiving funding under § 300.705, the SEA is responsible for ensuring that the requirements of this part are met.

(2) Paragraph (d)(1) of this section does not preclude a State from assigning initial responsibility for ensuring that the requirements of this part are met to another entity. However, the SEA must maintain the ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with this part, consistent with § 300.149. 34 C.F.R. § 300.209(d).

13.07.04 Minnesota State Academies - Responsibility for Services

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Subd. 1. Responsibility for special instruction and services for a blind/visually disabled or deaf/hard of hearing child attending the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf or the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind must be determined in subdivisions 2 to 10.

Subd. 2. The legal residence of the child is the district in which the child's parent or guardian resides.

Subd. 3. When it is determined pursuant to section 125A.69, subdivision 1 or 2, that the child is entitled to attend either school, the board of the Minnesota State Academies must provide the appropriate educational program for the child. The board of the Minnesota State Academies must make a tuition charge to the child's district of residence for the cost of providing the program. The amount of tuition charged must not exceed the general education revenue formula allowance times the pupil unit weighting factor pursuant to section 126C.05 for that child, for the amount of time the child is in the program. The district of the child's residence must pay the tuition and may claim general education aid for the child. Tuition received by the board of the Minnesota State Academies, except for tuition received under subdivision 4, must be deposited in the state treasury as provided in section subdivision 8.

Subd. 4. In addition to the tuition charge allowed in subdivision 3, the academies may charge the child's district of residence for the academy's unreimbursed cost of providing an instructional aide assigned to that child, if that aide is required by the child's IEP. Tuition received under this paragraph must be used by the academies to provide the required services.

Subd. 5. When it is determined that the child can benefit from public school enrollment but that the child should also remain in attendance at the applicable school, the district where the institution is located must provide an appropriate educational program for the child and must make a tuition charge to the board of the Minnesota State Academies for the actual cost of providing the program, less any amount of aid received pursuant to section 125A.75. The board of the Minnesota State Academies must pay the tuition and other program costs including the unreimbursed transportation costs. Aids for children with a disability must be paid to the district providing the special instruction and services. Special transportation must be provided by the district providing the educational program and the state must reimburse that district within the limits provided by law.

Subd. 6. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions 3 and 5, the board of the Minnesota State Academies may agree to make a tuition charge for less than the amount specified in subdivision 3 for pupils attending the applicable school who are residents of the district where the institution is located and who do not board at the institution, if that district agrees to make a tuition charge to the board of the Minnesota State Academies for less than the amount specified in subdivision 5 for providing appropriate educational programs to pupils attending the applicable school.

Subd. 7. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions 3 and 5, the board of the Minnesota State Academies may agree to supply staff from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf and the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind to participate in the programs provided by the district where the institutions are located when the programs are provided to students in attendance at the state schools. Minn. Stat. § 125A.65, subds. (1)-(7).

13.07.05 Agency Financial Responsibility for Interagency Early Intervention Services

Legal Citations

The Chief Executive Officer of a State or designee of that officer must ensure that an interagency agreement or other mechanism for interagency coordination is in effect between each noneducational public agency described in paragraph (b) of this section and the SEA, in order to ensure that all services described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section that are needed to ensure FAPE are provided, including the provision of those services during the pendency of any dispute under paragraph (a)(3) of this section. The agreement or mechanism must include the following:

(1) An identification of, or a method for defining, the financial responsibility of each agency for providing services described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section to ensure FAPE to children with disabilities. The financial responsibility of each noneducational public agency described in paragraph (b) of this section, including the State Medicaid agency and other public insurers of children with disabilities, shall precede the financial responsibility of the local educational agency (or the State agency responsible for developing the child's IEP). 34 C.F.R. § 300.142(a)(1).

13.07.06 Choice Options/Open Enrollment

Legal Citations

When a pupil is placed outside of the district residence by the parent or pupil for the purpose of education and in accordance with a statutory education choice enrollment act, the resident district shall be responsible for assuming the cost of the education program when notified in accordance with Minnesota Statutes, section 127A.47, subdivision 5. The providing district shall be responsible for assuring that an appropriate program is available for the pupil including the notice and hearing provisions. Minn. R. 3525.0800, subp. 8.

If requested by the parent of a pupil, the nonresident district shall provide transportation within the district. The resident district is not required to provide or pay for transportation between the pupil's residence and the border of the nonresident district. A parent may be reimbursed by the nonresident district for the costs of transportation from the pupil's residence to the border of the nonresident district if the pupil is from a family whose income is at or below the poverty level, as determined by the federal government. The reimbursement may not exceed the pupil's actual cost of transportation or 15 cents per mile traveled, whichever is less. Reimbursement may not be paid for more than 250 miles per week.

At the time a nonresident district notifies a parent or guardian that an application has been accepted under subdivision 4 or 5, the nonresident district must provide the parent or guardian with the following information regarding the transportation of nonresident pupils under section 123B.88, subdivision 6. Minn. Stat. § 124D.03,subd. 8

13.07.07 Litigation and Hearing Costs

(a) For fiscal year 1999 and thereafter, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education, or the commissioner's designee, shall use state funds to pay school districts for the administrative costs of a due process hearing incurred under section 125A.09, subdivisions 6, 10, and 11, including hearing officer fees, court reporter fees, mileage costs, transcript costs, interpreter and transliterator fees, independent evaluations ordered by the hearing officer, and rental of hearing rooms, but not including district attorney fees. To receive state aid under this paragraph, a school district shall submit to the commissioner by August 1 an itemized list of unreimbursed actual costs for fees and other expenses under this paragraph incurred after June 30, 1998, for hearings completed during the previous fiscal year. State funds used for aid to school districts under this paragraph shall be based on the unreimbursed actual costs and fees submitted by a district.

(b) The commissioner shall provide districts with a form on which to annually report litigation costs under this section and shall base aid estimates on preliminary reports submitted by the district during the current fiscal year. Minn. Stat. § 125A.75, subd. 8.