January 2023

Inside this issue:

• Teacher Salary Supplement Balance Requirement
• Explanation of January 2023 Juvenile Home and Other Deductions from State Payments to School Districts
• Preschool Registration and Other Fees
• Iowa Chart of Account Coding Updates
• Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children Application for New Districts - Due April 6
• Happy New Year from the Bureau of School Business Operations
• Billing for Open Enrollment, Homeless, and Foster Care
• 2023 Legislative Session Begins
• School Budget Review Committee Hearing
• Iowa School Business Management Academy
• Update in Supply Chain Assistance Fund Disbursement
• Medicaid Exclusion/Suspension Verification Report Due January 31

Upcoming Deadlines

Staff Contact Information

Department of Education Resources

• Iowa Department of Education Departmental Directory
• Iowa Department of Education Alphabetical Directory
• Iowa Department of Education Customer Service Guide
• Previous School Business Alerts

Financial

Teacher Salary Supplement Balance Requirement

Iowa Code section 284.3A(5) established a one-year provision requiring that any unexpended, unobligated Teacher Salary Supplement (TSS) funds (Project 3204) remaining at the conclusion of FY22 that exceed five percent of the amount received for FY22 be allocated and paid to eligible employees based on their full- or part-time status. Distribution of these funds, if any, should be made to eligible individuals employed during the 2022-2023 school year. This requirement applies to both districts and AEAs. The FY22 allocation, related balances, and the amount exceeding five percent of the FY22 allocation are included in the FY22 Preliminary TSS Carryover spreadsheet.

Iowa Administrative Code r. 281-98.24 identifies the appropriate uses of the categorical funding:

• Additional salary for teachers, including the amounts necessary for districts to comply with statutory teacher salary minimums, and
• The amount required to pay the employer’s share of federal Social Security and IPERS, and
• Payments to another school district or districts as negotiated in a whole grade sharing agreement (Iowa Code § 282.10(4)).

Additional notes are provided below.

• TSS allocations are required to be fully expended each year (281 IAC 98.24(1)).
• In the event a small amount remains that is not cost-effective to redistribute, the balance can be retained and added to the following year’s allocation (281 IAC 98.24(1)).
• Deference is given to school boards regarding related decisions (281 IAC 98.24(3)).
• All district expenditures, including spending TSS balances, are required to be approved by the board (Iowa Code § 279.29).
• If the use of a TSS balance increases an already-negotiated salary, a public purpose for incurring an additional cost should be documented by the board if it does not also result in additional benefit to the district.

Questions relating to this provision or uses of funds may be directed to Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.

Explanation of January 2023 Juvenile Home and Other Deductions from State Payments to School Districts

A deduction is being made for the cost of certain programs that are paid "off the top of state aid." This deduction, which occurs every year, is for the cost of educational programs for children in the state training school, mental health institutes, other licensed juvenile and foster care facilities, or special education costs for foster care children with no resident district and district court placed children. As required by Iowa Code, the cost of these programs is distributed to all school districts based on each district's budget enrollment (line 1.1 of the Aid and Levy Worksheet). The deduction starts in January and will continue through the rest of the year. These deductions reduce cash flow but have no impact on a district’s spending authority. Visit the State Payment Information FY23 screen for an updated breakdown of categorical funding.

If you have future questions regarding this deduction, please contact John Parker, Department of Management, at john.parker@iowa.gov or 515-281-8485.

Preschool Registration and Other Fees

As districts plan for 2023-2024 Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program (SWVPP) programming, remember that districts have no authority to charge fees for SWVPP registration. In addition, fees may not be charged for items which are part of the SWVPP instructional program. It is highly recommended to clearly communicate the details of any fees to families at the time of registration, including hours of programming offered for which there are allowable associated fees, such as non-SWVPP programming and/or child care. For more details, see SWVPP Frequently Asked Finance Questions.

If you have further questions, please contact Mary Breyfogle at mary.breyfogle@iowa.gov or 515-326-1030.

Coding

Iowa Chart of Account Coding Updates

The Iowa Chart of Account Coding, found on the Uniform Financial Accounting page of the Department website, is regularly updated to reflect changes necessary to meet fiscal reporting needs. The most recent update is provided below.

Applications

Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children Application for New Districts - Due April 6

School districts not currently participating in the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program (SWVPP) may apply to become part of the program. The application to begin a new preschool program in 2023-2024 is now available on the Department’s website. This non-competitive application, which is due April 6, 2023, will require districts to fund the preschool program using other funding sources in 2023-2024. In the second year of SWVPP implementation, districts will receive state aid based on the number of eligible children served in year one. Additional details will be included in the January Superintendent's Notes.

For more information about SWVPP, contact Mary Breyfogle at mary.breyfogle@iowa.gov or 515-326-1030.

General Information

Happy New Year from the Bureau of School Business Operations

The year 2022 brought many changes for the Department’s Bureau of School Business Operations. Most notably, the bureau welcomed six (yes, that’s right!) new members to our team. We are fortunate and excited by the great work each has already accomplished, their collective commitment to providing quality service to the field, and, of course, the many great things to come in the new year. From our team to yours, we wish you health, productivity, happiness, simple reconciliations, and account codes that all work. Happy New Year!

Keep reading to the end of this newsletter for a look at the specific areas of contribution for all members.

Billing for Open Enrollment, Homeless, and Foster Care

The majority of students who utilize open enrollment attend the serving district on the first day of school, remain enrolled through the last day of school, and never move during the course of the year. For these students, the serving district bills the resident district twice a year. This is relatively simple. All other situations - involving open enrollment and moving - are not as simple. The following information provides a brief review of how billing is to be handled when changes occur during the year (281 IAC 17).

1.  A student is not utilizing open enrollment on count day, moves after count day, and utilizes open enrollment to remain enrolled in the former district of residence, known as Iowa’s “continuation rule.”

• No district is billed for days served under open enrollment for the remainder of the school year. A district cannot bill for the 1.0 funds (last year’s state cost per pupil) or special education costs. If a student utilizes open enrollment to remain enrolled in the same district, the district would have already counted the student in the fall’s certified enrollment count. Billing to the new resident district will begin the following year.

2.  A student is under open enrollment on count day, moves after count day, and continues to utilize open enrollment to remain enrolled in the same serving district.

• The serving district will bill the district that generated the count on count day. The serving district can bill for 1.0 funds (last year’s state cost per pupil) and, if applicable, actual special education costs incurred.

3. A student is identified as homeless and is temporarily living in a different district.

• A homeless student can attend school in the district where the student is currently living or in the district of origin (281 IAC 33.2), which is the Iowa public school district in which the student was last enrolled or in which the child last attended when permanently housed. 
• If the parent chooses to enroll the student in a different district other than the district where the student is living or the district of origin, the parent or guardian must apply for open enrollment. 
• If the application for open enrollment is approved after the student is determined to be homeless, the parent assumes responsibility for transportation (281 IAC 33.8(4), 281 IAC 17.9(1)).
• Transportation services to the school of origin (pursuant to open enrollment agreement in place prior to homelessness occurring) is required to be provided pursuant to 42 U.S. Code § 11432 (e)(3)(E)(i)(III). If the school of origin is not the same as the district in which the student is physically located, the district in which the student is physically located and the district in which the student is attending are required to work together to determine a method to apportion responsibility and costs for providing transportation to the school or origin. If a method cannot be agreed upon, costs shall be shared equally between the two districts [42 U.S. Code § 11432 (g)(1)(J)(iii)(II)].

4.  A student is placed into foster care. When a foster care placement is made, a “best interest determination” decision will be made regarding the school of attendance, resulting in either 1) remaining in the school of origin or 2) enrolling in the district where the student resides in foster care. 

•  The student remains enrolled in the school of origin.
•  Whether the student’s foster care placement is within the same district or not, the student’s resident district does not change in the student information system. The student continues to be identified as having the same resident district. The student does not utilize open enrollment to remain enrolled in the school of origin unless the student was already under open enrollment. The attending district will maintain the same enrollment information, but add the foster care indicator on the new enrollment period record (Iowa Code § 282.31(1)(b)).
• The student does not remain enrolled in the school of origin and enrolls in the district where the student resides while in foster care.
•  If the student does not have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), the student is a resident in the district where he or she is living while in foster care. There is no billing. The student will be included in the district’s general education foster care claim, as long as the district identifies the student as being in foster care (Iowa Code § 282.19(3); Iowa Code § 282.31(1)(b)).
• If the student utilizes open enrollment while in foster care to attend a district that is not the district of origin or the district where the student is currently living while in foster care, the serving district will include the student on the regular education foster care claim.
• If the student has an IEP, regardless of where the student attends school, the resident district remains the resident district where a parent lives, if the parent lives in Iowa. The resident district is billed through the Tuition in Billing application (Iowa Code § 282.31(2)(a)). 
• If the student has an IEP and parents do not live or cannot be found living in Iowa, regardless of where the student attends school, the serving district will use the Look Back feature in Tuition in Billing to determine if a district counted the student in the October special education count. If a district counted the student, the district that counted the student will be billed for the student’s educational costs. If no district counted the student on the October special education count, the serving district will bill the state under the foster care claim in the Tuition in Billing application at the end of the year (Iowa Code § 282.31(3); 281 IAC 41.907(5)(c)).
• If the student has an IEP and parental rights have been terminated, the serving district will bill the state under Termination of Parental Rights in the Tuition in Billing application for days served from the date parental rights were terminated. Billing to the state is completed at the end of the year. A copy of the court action is to be shared with the area education agency (AEA) so the Information Management System (IMS) can be updated accordingly (281 IAC 41.907(6)).

When billing can occur for a student under open enrollment, the components to be billed include:

• Tuition, 
• Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC),
• English Language Learner (ELL) supplementary weighting (if applicable), and
• Concurrent enrollment/Project Lead the Way supplementary weighting (if applicable).

For updated billing guidance, including prorated billing amounts, please refer to the 2022-2023 Open Enrollment Billing Chart.

For questions relating to serving homeless students, contact Emily Teeter at 515-669-8622 or emily.teeter@iowa.gov. 

For questions relating to open enrollment, contact Sara Nickel at 515-971-7558 or sara.nickel@iowa.gov. 

For questions relating to billing, contact Scott Dryer at 515-402-8700 or scott.dryer@iowa.gov.

For questions relating to foster care, contact Elisa Koler at 515-669-4052 or elisa.koler@iowa.gov.

2023 Legislative Session Begins

The 2023 legislative session began on Monday, January 9. There are various resources available to access information related to any action taken or progress made by the Legislature:

Department of Education’s Legislation Tracking Tool

Department of Education’s Legislative Update Newsletter

Iowa Legislature Web Site

For further information on legislative issues, contact Eric St Clair, legislative liaison, at eric.stclair@iowa.gov or 515-326-0274.

School Budget Review Committee Hearing

The School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) met in regular session to hold hearings on December 13, 2022. In this session, the Committee discussed the list of districts that preliminarily incurred a negative unspent balance; reviewed lists of late filers for Certified Enrollment, School Association Report, and the Facilities, Elections, and Sales Tax (FEST) Report; reviewed state decile rankings for unspent authorized budget (UAB) and UAB less categorical amounts on a per pupil basis; reviewed the historical list of districts and AEAs that late filed their certified annual report (CAR), special education supplement (SES), or annual transportation report (ATR); and set the fiscal year 2023-2024 hearing schedule. The Committee certified to the Department of Management the list of supplementary weightings for FY24 and approved modified supplemental amounts (MSA) for eligible and requesting districts related to excess costs of providing a limited English proficiency (EP) program in the prior fiscal year, increased enrollment applications, open enrollment out students not included in the prior year headcount, and EP programs offered beyond five years. The Committee reviewed AEA and district special education balances and approved MSA for eligible and requesting districts with deficit balances. The Committee also discussed special education weightings.

The Committee granted a certificate of need for one district to allow use of SAVE dollars for infrastructure purposes and authorized use of the unexpended General Fund for infrastructure purposes for one district. The Committee also accepted a corrective action plan from one district that preliminarily incurred a negative unspent balance, received two fiscal updates from districts required based on fiscal triggers, and accepted two corrective action plans, one contingent upon providing an updated plan, and tabled the approval of a third district’s corrective action plan related to late filing of the CAR, SES, and/or ATR.

Approved requests for MSA can be found on the SBRC Hearing Information website under the December 13, 2022 Summary of Actions.

If you have further questions, please contact SBRC Liaison, Kassandra Cline, at kassandra.cline@iowa.gov or 515-326-2242.

Iowa School Business Management Academy

The Iowa School Business Management Academy will hold its Spring Academy May 8-10, 2023, at the Memorial Union, Iowa State University, 2229 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA. Sessions for Levels I-IV will be held May 8-10; graduate-level sessions will be held May 9-10.

Online registration will begin at 7 a.m. on Monday, February 27, 2023. A registration link will be available once the site is open.

Update in Supply Chain Assistance Fund Disbursement

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has allocated a total of three rounds of Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) Funds. Schools had the option to accept or decline this funding. The first round of funding was disbursed in August 2022. The Bureau of Nutrition and Health Services had originally planned to combine monies from rounds two and three and disburse them as a single payment. However, due to unforeseen delays in receiving the third round of SCA funding from the USDA, rounds two and three will now be distributed in two separate payments. The second round of funding was disbursed on December 13. The third and final round disbursement is planned for January 2023. SCA Funds will be reported to Source/Project 4014, Supply Chain Assistance Funds (FAL/CFDA 10.555). The SCA Funds should be credited to FY23. For questions, please reach out to your assigned regional school nutrition consultant.

Medicaid

Medicaid Exclusion/Suspension Verification Report Due January 31

Iowa Medicaid school-based providers must comply with checking two sources each month to capture employee exclusions and reinstatements: the federal list provided on the HHS-OIG website and the state’s list, which is found on the Iowa Medicaid Program Integrity website.

 A search of these sources is to occur monthly to confirm individuals whose services are billed to Medicaid are not excluded. Please monitor to see if any exclusions and reinstatements have occurred since the last search. It is required that these checks are documented. A provider must report to the Iowa Medicaid Enterprise (IME) any exclusion information discovered through such searches. It is important that you do not bill for services provided by an excluded or suspended individual.

 A School-Based Provider Search Template and a Tip Sheet have been posted on the School-based Medicaid page of the Department’s website. Please include the names of individuals who oversee services such as the mental health professional, school nurse or special education teacher. The documentation checks are expected for school district individuals providing services to your students attending a non-resident district.

 At the end of each quarter, please send the completed spreadsheet to Jim Donoghue, Iowa Department of Education Medicaid Consultant.

 For any questions or assistance with checking the Exclusions database or Suspension list, please contact Jim Donoghue at 515-281-8505, 515-326-1032, or jim.donoghue@iowa.gov.

Meet the Bureau of School Business Operations

It is the policy of the Iowa Department of Education not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, sex, disability, religion, age, political party affiliation, or actual or potential parental, family or marital status in its programs, activities, or employment practices as required by the Iowa Code sections 216.9 and 256.10(2), Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000d and 2000e), the Equal Pay Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 206, et seq.), Title IX (Educational Amendments, 20 U.S.C.§§ 1681 – 1688), Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq.). If you have questions or complaints related to compliance with this policy by the Iowa Department of Education, please contact the legal counsel for the Iowa Department of Education, Grimes State Office Building, 400 E. 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50319-0146, telephone number: 515-281-5295, or the Director of the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Citigroup Center, 500 W. Madison Street, Suite 1475, Chicago, IL 60661-4544, telephone number: 312-730-1560, FAX number: 312-730-1576, TDD number: 877-521-2172, email: OCR.Chicago@ed.gov.