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October 2023
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Upcoming Deadlines
Due Date
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What's Due
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October 16
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Last Date to Notify the SBRC if District Incurred Negative Unspent Balance
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October 17
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SBRC Hearing
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November 1
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School Association Reporting Due
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November 7
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Last Date for an Election to Reorganize Effective July 1: 1st Tuesday in December (even numbered years), 1st Tuesday After 1st Monday in November (odd numbered years)
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November 10
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Exhibits Due for the December 13, 2023 SBRC Hearing
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Department of Education Resources
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Have you ever struggled to find the resident district of a student? Do you have resident students in multiple counties and spend a lot of time navigating the county assessor’s website? Well, we have the perfect solution to save you time! Use the FY24 School District Look-up Map to determine the resident district for any address in Iowa.
Directions: Enter the address in the upper left-hand corner. Use your scroll to zoom in and out of the map.
The Iowa Department of Education Bureau of School Business Operations is pleased to announce the additions of Stephanie Edler and Jen Rathje to our team! Welcome, Stephanie and Jen!
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Stephanie comes to us after 16 years as the SBO at West Marshall CSD. Stephanie will serve as the Department liaison to the School Budget Review Committee and will lead the update of bureau guidance resources as well as the audit process of the Iowa’s Students First Education Savings Account program. |
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Jen comes to us as an inter–agency transfer where she previously led the Senior Year Plus Program. Prior to working for the Department, Jen also worked for 12 years at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC). Jen will serve as the Program Administrator of Iowa’s Students First Education Savings Account program. |
Are you intrinsically motivated to be a resource for others? Have you thought about the impact you could make at a state level being a resource for peers across the state? Consider joining our team! We are currently accepting applications for an Education Program Consultant - Enrollments and Applications to assist districts with uses of capital funds, open enrollment billing questions, and applications such as LEP Allowable Costs, SBRC Application, and At-Risk/Dropout. The position is anticipated to be posted in the coming weeks on the State of Iowa Careers page.
If you have questions about the position responsibilities or ways this person will make a difference internally and across the state, please reach out to Kassandra Cline at kassandra.cline@iowa.gov or 515-326-2242.
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The Iowa Chart of Account Coding is regularly updated to reflect changes necessary to meet fiscal reporting needs. The most recent updates are provided below. Updates are posted each month to this document which can be found on the Department’s Uniform Financial Accounting webpage.
September 2023
Account Code
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Description
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Source/Project 3363
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Local College Access Network (LCAN) (Iowa College Aid) (Sep23)
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Source/Project 3348
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County Endowment Funding – DCA Grants (IEDA) (IC 99F.11(4)(d)(1)) (Sep23)
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If you have further questions, please contact Kathy Bowers at kathy.bowers@iowa.gov or 515-210-9674, Jina Brincks at jina.brincks@iowa.gov or 515-313-5942, or Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided the clarification below regarding interest received from Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) funds.
According to the Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) Funds, Attachment A, SCA funds may only be deposited into the nonprofit food service account (NPFSA) of the School Food Authority (SFA) for which the funds were intended. In 7 CFR 210.2, revenue is defined as all monies received by or accruing to the NPFSA (including interest).
SFAs maintaining SCA funds in an interest-bearing NPFSA account must adhere to the guidance in 2 CFR 210.14(a) while using SCA funds exclusively for the purchase of unprocessed or minimally processed domestic food products. Revenue received from this account do not have to be tracked separately and are to be used for the operation or improvement of the food service. Such revenue may remain in the NPFSA until fully expended.
If you have questions about the use of SCA funds, please reach out to your regional school nutrition consultant.
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Information in the Operational Sharing application is populated from Fall BEDS Staff. Once the Operational Sharing application is available, the information can be reviewed and certified. Any changes required in the Operational Sharing application must be made in the Fall BEDS Staff application. The deadline to certify Fall BEDS Staff and Operational Sharing is October 30.
The general process for the operational sharing supplemental weighting request is outlined below.
- Fall BEDS Staff must be updated before the Operational Sharing application is reviewed.
- The district or AEA holding the shared employee's contract reports the individual’s full salary and benefits according to the individual’s contract.
- The district or AEA purchasing a portion of the shared individual’s contract reports the purchased service (portion of the salary and benefits). This should be the projected amount to be reported in the local financial system with an Object code of 59X when the contract holder is another district or AEA, or with an Object code of 3XX when the contract holder is some other governmental subdivision.
- A shared individual must be reported by all parties as shared. The sharing information can be added or edited by editing the individual’s assignment that is being shared. “Shared Status” options for operational sharing include the following:
- We hold the employee’s contract and the assignment is in both districts.
- We are the district purchasing services and assignment is in both districts.
- We hold the employee's contract, and an operational sharing position is in each district.
- We are the purchasing district, and an operational sharing position is in each district.
- We are sharing with other governmental subdivisions.
- The district must select the district that is also a party to the sharing.
- Use the drop-down arrow to select the sharing partner.
- Click Add.
- Click Save.
- If the contract holder has more than one sharing arrangement for the individual, select the second district that has also purchased a portion of the individual’s contract. Click Add and repeat step 5.
- Click Save to exit the edit pop-up screen.
If sharing errors are found in Fall BEDS Staff, the errors will most likely be on the other district’s Fall BEDS Staff application. If you see errors on shared staff, have the other district check its Fall BEDS Staff information to see if the sharing status and sharing partner have been completed. A common error is to have one district identify an individual and related assignment as shared, but not identify the sharing district. Once the sharing information has been corrected by the other district, click the Check for Errors/Omissions button to clear the error message. Additional guidance can be found on the Fall BEDS Staff webpage.
In order to have a curriculum director appear in the Operational Sharing application, the curriculum director must be reported with the Position code of 633, Director/Coordinator/Department Head. Individuals reported with the position code of Content/Curriculum Consultant position will not generate operational sharing supplementary weighting.
For new shared positions with another governmental subdivision other than sharing arrangements with another Iowa public school district or AEA, please send a copy of the signed contract to scott.dryer@iowa.gov. This is needed to verify that the duties performed for the governmental subdivision are an eligible operational function (281 IAC 97.7(11)). Sharing arrangements that were approved in a prior year do not need to be resubmitted unless a significant change in the arrangement has occurred.
Operational function sharing guidance includes all eligible positions and the related supplementary weighting.
For assistance with corrections to Fall BEDS Staff or Operational Sharing application, please contact Shelly Neese at shelly.neese@iowa.gov or 515-336-3859.
For assistance determining if a sharing agreement is eligible for supplementary weighting, please contact Scott Dryer at scott.dryer@iowa.gov or 515-402-8700.
The School Association application is available on the EdPortal and the related due date is November 1.
Iowa Code 279.38A requires boards of school corporations that pay membership dues organizations which directly relate to the functions of the board of directors, to report annually to the local community and the Iowa Department of Education. The board must report the amount paid in annual dues to the organization, any fees paid and revenue or dividend payments received for services the board receives from the organization, and the products or services the school district received inclusive with the membership in the organization.
Districts must report information for four different associations: Iowa Association of School Business Officials (IASBO), Rural School Advocates of Iowa (RSAI), School Administrators of Iowa (SAI), and Urban Education Network (UEN). Effective with FY21 filing, districts are no longer required to provide information regarding the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) to the Department as this will be provided to the Department from IASB.
Instructions are posted on the home page of the School Association application. If you have additional questions, please contact Scott Dryer at scott.dryer@iowa.gov or 515-402-8700.
The SBRC Application is anticipated to open on November 15. The application calculates eligibility for Modified Supplemental Amount (MSA) requests as described below.
- Increased Enrollment – for districts showing Fall 2023 actual enrollment (formerly known as row 7) greater than Fall 2022 actual enrollment (Iowa Code § 257.31(5)(a)).
- Open Enrollment Out Not Included on Prior Year’s Headcount – students identified as open enrolled out in Fall 2023 who were not included in the district’s Fall 2022 certified enrollment count, minus any increase in enrollment described in item 1 above (Iowa Code § 282.18(7)"e”).
- Limited English Proficient (LEP) Instruction Beyond 5 Years – for resident students included in Fall 2023 certified enrollment who have already received the maximum English language learner (ELL) supplementary weighting and who earn an intermediate or intensive rating on the ELPA and are continuing to receive ELL instructional services (Iowa Code § 257.31(5)’j”).
This application is pre-populated from each district’s certified enrollment and Student Reporting in Iowa (SRI) submission. In order to complete a request:
- Verify the accuracy of the data. The amounts can change during the Certified Enrollment verification period during the last two weeks in October and early November. Therefore, do not certify the SBRC application until you are confident that your district’s certified enrollment information is correct.
- Enter the amount of a request. Click “Save Values.”
- Certify the application.
- The SBRC considers individual action for each request and appreciates local boards doing the same when acting upon the requests during local board meetings, so please do not include requests as part of a consent agenda.
- Each request should be listed as a separate action item considered at the November board meeting. Examples are provided below:
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Increased Enrollment - The district’s administration is authorized to submit a request to the School Budget Review Committee for a modified supplemental amount of $XXX due to an increase of certified enrollment from the prior year.
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Open Enrollment Out Not on Prior Year’s Headcount - The district’s administration is authorized to submit a request to the School Budget Review Committee for a modified supplemental amount of $XXX for open enrolled out students who were not included in the district’s previous year certified enrollment count.
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Limited English Proficient (LEP) Instruction Beyond Five Years - The district’s administration is authorized to submit a request to the School Budget Review Committee for a modified supplemental amount of $XXX related to the English language learning program for students who have exceeded five years of weighting that are included on the Fall 2023 certified enrollment headcount.
- On the SBRC Application page, upload the board minutes authorizing the request(s). If board minutes are not available at the time of submission, enter the date the board will take action in November. Then upload the minutes within three business days of that board meeting.
If you have questions related to the SBRC Application, please contact Scott Dryer at scott.dryer@iowa.gov or 515-402-8700.
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Open Enrollment is the process by which a parent or guardian residing in an Iowa district may enroll their child(ren) into another Iowa school district under the terms and conditions of Iowa Code section 282.18 and Iowa Administrative Code r 281-17.
The March 1 deadline for open enrollment was eliminated effective the 2022-2023 school year. This change allows parents/guardians to apply for open enrollment at any time without the requirement to establish good cause. The receiving district may deny an open enrollment request if one of the following applies:
- The application violates the district’s insufficient classroom space policy,
- The district does not have the appropriate special education program,
- The application would adversely affect the district’s implementation of a court-ordered desegregation plan, or
- The student has been expelled or suspended.
If a parent/guardian moves and wishes for their student to continue at the original resident district under open enrollment (often known as the “continuation rule”), requests cannot be denied due to insufficient classroom space policies.
If you have questions relating to open enrollment, please contact Stacie Stokes at stacie.stokes@iowa.gov or 515-210-5288.
Congratulations on completing the Certified Annual Report (CAR), the Special Education Supplement (SES), and the Annual Transportation Report (ATR). We appreciate the districts' cooperation and patience throughout the reporting process.
If you were a first-time user, let us know if the instructions were helpful and what type of information or training you think would be helpful prior to starting the process (be specific) in future years. Your thoughts and ideas for enhancements, training, and future collaboration is appreciated.
Please send your comments to Jina Brincks at jina.brincks@iowa.gov or 515-313-5942.
The following reminders are provided in regard to reporting of Home School Assistance Programs (HSAPs) in the 2023 Fall BEDS Staff submission.
Program Code: Fall 2023 Fall BEDS Staff. Individuals funded through HSAP categorical funding are to be identified with program code of 11.
Assignment Code: Districts with a HSAP must report teachers with appropriate assignment codes of either 60034 or 30004. Teachers in a district’s HSAP can only supervise and/or teach students in grades corresponding to the teacher’s license (Iowa Code 299A.2).
- Teachers supervising or teaching students in grades kindergarten through grade 8 are to be reported with the assignment code of 60034.
- Teachers supervising or teaching students in grades 9 through 12 are to be reported with the assignment code of 30004.
If a teacher is licensed to teach grades kindergarten through 12, the teacher is to be reported with two assignments utilizing the assignment codes of 60034 and 30004. In addition, Iowa Administrative Code 281-31.4(2) states, “A practitioner who possesses only a valid Iowa substitute authorization may neither provide direct instruction nor instructional supervision under this rule.”
For questions related to Fall BEDS Staff reporting, please contact Shelly Neese at shelly.neese@iowa.gov or 515-336-3859.
For questions related to the home school assistance program, please contact Buffy Campbell at buffy.campbell@iowa.gov or 515-954-8651.
All current information regarding Iowa’s Students First Education Savings Account (ESA) program can be found here.
Iowa was recently recognized with three awards from the National Center for Education Statistics of the United States Department of Education. Two of the awards were for recognition of outstanding performance in timely and complete reporting of the Common Core of Data National Public Education Finance Survey (NPEFS), the Common Core of Data Survey (F-33) for FY21. Iowa has received these awards each reporting year since 2009. For the second year in a row, Iowa also received recognition for its reporting of the Common Core of Data School Level Finance Survey (SLFS). These reports are submitted by the Bureau of School Business Operations and are based on information reported from districts and AEAs. These awards would not be possible without the timely submission of quality data by each of the state's districts and AEAs. Thank you and congratulations to all!
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If you have questions relating to Medicaid or other topics in this section, please contact Jim Donoghue at jim.donoghue@iowa.gov or 515-281-8505.
Iowa Medicaid school-based providers are required to check two sources monthly to capture employee exclusions and reinstatements: the federal list provided on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) website and the state’s list, which is found on the Iowa Medicaid Program Integrity website (42 C.F.R. § 1001.1901(b)).
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 a district does not bill for services provided by an excluded or suspended individual.
ACTION ITEM:
At the end of each quarter, please send the completed three months spreadsheets to the Department's Medicaid consultant, Jim Donoghue.
The April 2023 edition of the School Business Alert included an action item from Iowa Heath and Human Services (Iowa HHS) in the story "Urgent Request from Iowa Health and Human Services Regarding Medicaid and Data Breaches". Iowa HHS is requiring an assurance from each school district that a breach has not occurred. The Department also communicated the action item with attorneys who serve Iowa school districts and AEAs.
Both efforts have had limited results; there are still 168 enrolled LEA or AEA providers who have not provided the required assurance.
ACTION ITEM:
If your agency has not responded, please respond by either:
- Sending an email to Jim Donoghue attesting no data breach has occurred within the last three years.
- Sending an email to Jim Donoghue providing the date of the data breach and whether it was already reported.
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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.
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