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 August 2024
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Inside this issue:
Department of Education Resources
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Upcoming Deadlines
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Due Date
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What's Due
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August 15
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Issue FY25 School Bus Driver Authorizations for All Drivers
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September 2
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Medicaid Data Breach Three Year History Due
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September 13
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Request/Exhibit Deadline for October SBRC Hearing
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September 16
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CAR, SES, and ATR Applications Due
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October 30
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Fall BEDS Staff Application Due
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October 30
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Operational Sharing Application Due
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November 1
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Facilities, Elections, and Sales Tax Data Collection Due
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November 1
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EL Excess Costs (formerly LEP Allowable Costs) Application Due
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Staff Contact Information
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The Bureau of School Business Operations will be offering virtual office hours during the upcoming FY24 application submission period for the Certified Annual Report (CAR), Special Education Supplement (SES), and the Annual Transportation Report (ATR). Members of the Department’s team as well as other School Business Officials will be available to answer questions related to the applications. The schedule and topic information below is also available on the Department’s Certified Annual Report web page.
Virtual office hours dates and times:
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Date
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Time
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Monday, August 26
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1:30pm – 3:00pm
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Thursday, August 29
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9:30am – 11:00am
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Wednesday, September 4
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9:30am – 11:00am
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Friday, September 6
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9:30am – 11:00am
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Wednesday, September 11
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9:30am – 11:00am
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Thursday, September 12
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1:30pm – 3:00pm
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Join the webinar:
https://IDOE.zoom.us/j/94725426306?pwd=idEaB5RruTFYk88jPaHjeGU5bRuH98.1
Meeting ID: 947 2542 6306
Passcode: 748596
Certified Annual Report (CAR) instructions may be found on the Department’s Certified Annual Reports web page. For more information, see the CAR application article in the Applications section below titled “Certified Annual Report - Due September 16”.
Special Education Supplement (SES) instructions may be found on the Department’s Special Education Finance web page. For more information, see the SES application article in the Applications section below titled “Special Education Supplement - Due September 16”.
Annual Transportation Report (ATR) instructions may be found on the Department’s Pupil Transportation web page. For more information, see the ATR application article in the Applications section below titled “Annual Transportation Report - Due September 16”.
Iowa Code chapter 29C defines disaster as man-made and natural occurrences, such as fire, flood, drought, earthquake, tornado, windstorm, hazardous substance or nuclear power plant accident or incident, which threaten the public peace, health, and safety of the people or which damage and destroy public or private property.
Iowans experienced several disasters this spring and summer. The Disaster Recovery resource provides valuable information to navigate disaster-related issues such as tuition, enrollment, records, and accounting. For example, if an Iowa resident student temporarily moved into another Iowa school district due to a disaster-specific reason, page 4 illustrates various scenarios and the actions districts can take based on a student’s specific circumstance.
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Question: Will the district receive spending authority for the payments of education support personnel salary supplement (ESPSS)?
Answer: Yes. The Department issued warrants on July 5, 2024 for each district’s entire ESPSS allocation. The Department will include this amount as miscellaneous income at the end of FY25, thereby assigning additional spending authority for the same amount.
Question: How is ACHIEVE access granted to district employees?
Answer: The steps required to gain access to ACHIEVE are provided below.
- The employee must have an EdPortal account.
- The district employee who works with the Student Information System (SIS) needs to set up the employee requesting access in the SIS with an ACHIEVE user role.
- An overnight sync will occur.
- The following day, the employee should be able to access ACHIEVE by logging in through the EdPortal.
Question: Can districts pay athletic officials immediately following the game?
Answer: It depends. The board should exercise its authority under Iowa Code section 279.8 to establish a policy on how athletic officials are compensated. This policy may proactively be shared with the athletic officials whose services have been or will be purchased by the district. The policy should be consistent with the requirements under Iowa Code section 279.29, which requires the board to approve all payments, and Iowa Code section 279.30, which provides for payment exceptions. If in compliance with established board policy and IRS regulations including the receipt of a W-9 in the case of an independent contractor, officials could be paid the night of the game after the service has been rendered. The board may wish to also clarify in its policy payment for non-contract officials or substitute officials.
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School districts should work to ensure community partners understand allowable uses of Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program (SWVPP) funds. The community partner contract should also clearly indicate the documentation necessary to demonstrate, for auditing purposes, that SWVPP funds were expended for appropriate uses, the frequency that such documentation must be provided to the district, and potential implications if the terms for providing documentation are not met.
Financial best practices for districts with SWVPP community partners are shared below.
- At the beginning of the school year, the district informs each community partner of its maximum amount available for the year, including the value of the amount available for administrative and operational costs, which is limited to 10 percent of the community partner funding. The amount provided should exclude the five percent retained by the district for administrative costs, if applicable.
- Community partners submit detailed expenditure documentation monthly to the district.
- Payroll records should include salary and benefit costs for each staff member.
- Supply/equipment purchases should be reflected on itemized invoices.
- Administrative and operational costs also require documentation.
- Reimbursement/Reconciliation
- The district reimburses the community partners for allowable expenditures or reconciles against payments already made.
- The district determines allowable expenditures based on the detailed documentation.
- The district continues monthly review/reimbursement to the community partners until the annual maximum amount is reached.
- Any amount paid to the community partner that is not substantiated through proper documentation must be returned to the district.
By statute, the district must flow SWVPP funds to its community partners; however, if a community partner does not expend the full amount allocated, all unexpended funds belong to the district. If the funds were paid prior to verification of expenditures, the community partner is required to return the funds as soon as it is known the funds will not be used, but not later than June 30 of the program year (281 IAC 98.13(2)"b" and "c"). Additionally, the district may withhold reimbursement or require the return of any funds already reimbursed that do not have the documentation necessary to illustrate the funds were used appropriately.
Additional information relating to SWVPP Finance is available on the Department’s SWVPP web page under the Guidance section in the Finance FAQs for the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program resource file.
Programming questions relating to the SWVPP can be directed to Mary Breyfogle at mary.breyfogle@iowa.gov or 515-326-1030.
Questions relating to SWVPP finance can be directed to Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
The Student Activity Fund, as a special revenue fund, is used to ensure funds received to support student activities (e.g., gate receipts, fundraiser proceeds) are restricted for the purpose intended. However, the Student Activity Fund is not the only available source to pay for costs related to student activities. Below are a few common examples of costs related to student activities that could be appropriately expended from another fund.
- Appropriate student activity expenditures from the General Fund
- Salaries and benefits for coaches
- Transportation for students to co-curricular or extracurricular activities
- Activity staff travel costs to activities
- Costs related to referees/officials
- Appropriate student activity expenditures from PPEL or SAVE
- Equipment or technology purchase exceeding $500 in value per purchase
- Construction costs related to the student activity program
- Rental of facilities for district-sponsored co-curricular and extracurricular programs
A similar question is answered on page 3 of the Student Activity Handbook of Frequently Asked Questions as provided below.
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Question: From which funds is it appropriate to pay for costs related to the district’s student activity program?
Answer: There are multiple funds from which student activity program expenditures would be appropriate. Some examples include the Student Activity Fund for any ordinary and necessary costs related to the program (e.g., supplies, uniforms), General Fund (e.g., staff salary, benefits, transportation), PPEL Fund for related capital costs (e.g., eligible equipment, greenhouse construction), and Enterprise Fund for costs related to enterprise activities (e.g., student farm). There are a number of costs that could be equally appropriate to multiple funds.
Further questions can be directed to Jina Brincks at jina.brincks@iowa.gov or 515-313-5942 or Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
English Learner (EL) Expenditure Coding
This article serves as the annual reminder regarding expenditure coding for the district’s EL program.
- Use Program 41X to identify EL expenditures.
- District expenditures coded to Project 1112 (property tax and state aid-financed weighted EL and School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) modified supplemental amount (MSA) for EL) or Project 4644 (Title III, English Language Acquisition State Grants) cannot exceed the revenues coded to Project 1112 or 4644 respectively.
- EL expenditures in excess of all available restricted funding should retain Program 41X and include Project 0000.
- EL program expenditures that do not include Program 41X will not appear in the EL Excess Costs Application.
- Continue to use Program 41X for excess EL expenditures, even though the project code may be changed to 0000.
Appropriate and inappropriate uses of EL funds are found in Iowa Administrative Code r. 281-98.16. Very few expenditures that fall into the executive, building, or business administrative functions, or the operations and maintenance, transportation, and community service functions are appropriate uses of EL funds. While these may be related costs, they are not direct costs of providing the district’s EL program; therefore, the costs cannot be included in a request to the SBRC for excess costs of providing the program.
Reporting EL Instructional and Support Staff in Fall BEDS Staff
Districts that report expenditures for salaries but do not report a teacher with an appropriate English as a Second Language (ESL) assignment code in Fall BEDS Staff, will not be able to submit a request to the SBRC for excess EL costs incurred during the 2023-2024 school year. Please review Fall BEDS Staff to ensure teachers in a district’s EL program have been appropriately identified with the position of Regular Education Teacher and assigned to the ESL program.
Identifying staff: Visit the Iowa Education Portal. Select the Fall BEDS Staff application. Under “Staff Filters” in the upper right on the District/Staff page, set the Program field to ESL. All teachers and paraprofessionals assigned to the program will appear when filtering on ESL. Additional individuals, such as administrators or coordinators of the EL program, may also appear. Data in the 2023-2024 Fall BEDS Staff application can be viewed, but not edited at this time.
Common Reporting Problems
Problem 1: Missing staff
The teacher will not appear when filtering on program = ESL if the program assignment has been identified as “No special program”. Edit the position and change the program to ESL.
Problem 2: Missing staff when a teacher has multiple assignments (22% EL, 78% regular education)
In this example, the teacher has two assignments, one of which belongs under “No special program". The other assignment belongs under the ESL program. Seventy-eight percent of this teacher’s salary and benefits will be paid from noncategorical funds while twenty-two percent can be paid from EL categorical funds. For this teacher, the ESL assignment will need to be deleted from the “No special program” and the FTE will require a modification from 1.00 to 0.78. A new position of Regular Education Teacher, FTE = 0.22, and program = ESL needs to be created. The ESL assignment will then be added to the new position.
Problem 3: A teacher with a regular curriculum course assignment coded to a categorical program
This teacher is coded to two different categorical programs (ESL and Special Education); however, a third program (No special program) is required. The entry for the third program must have a position of regular education teacher and an FTE equivalent to the portion of contract time the teacher is assigned to teach the Creative Writing course. The Creative Writing assignment must be moved to the newly created position. The FTE must also be modified to reflect only the portion of time the teacher is assigned to the ESL assignment. The portion of time (FTE), the program, and the funding stream from which the teacher will be paid should be in agreement.
Problem 4: A teacher assigned to teach a regular curriculum course under the ESL program
If the teacher has an ESL endorsement, is appropriately licensed to teach physical science, and all students in the sections taught by this teacher are EL students, then it may be possible to have that portion of the teacher’s assignment paid from EL categorical funds. If students enrolled in the course are also generating credit toward graduation, the teacher would need to be appropriately licensed in the content area as well.
Please make sure all data submitted to the Department are reviewed for accuracy. There will not necessarily be validation errors on the positions, assignments, or programs in Fall BEDS Staff. Inaccurate reporting in one application can impact other applications as well.
For questions related to the Fall BEDS Staff application, please contact Shelly Wolterman at shelly.neese@iowa.gov or 515-336-3859.
Account coding questions can be directed to Jina Brincks at jina.brincks@iowa.gov or 515-313-5942 or Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
All nonpublic transportation claims have been processed and warrants were issued on July 29, 2024. The distribution of funds to be retained by the district or paid to families or contractors is available in the FY24 Nonpublic Transportation Claim application in the EdPortal.
Tip: Ensure the 2023-2024 school year is selected in the upper right hand side of the page.
The prorated claim amounts per claim type is populated in the yellow highlighted columns on the right side of the page.
For questions, please contact Holli Marolf at holli.marolf@iowa.gov or 515-281-5812.
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The Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship was awarded over $2.1 million through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS Source/Project 4911). These funds are available to schools to purchase local, domestic, unprocessed, or minimally processed foods to help with the challenges of supply chain disruptions.
Awarded districts would have worked with a food hub sponsor for purchasing pre-authorization and payments. Although the dollars did not flow to the districts directly, districts must record the value of the food received. Similar to how commodities are recorded, LFS revenue (Source/Project 4911) must equal LFS expenses (Project 4911, Object 638) at the end of the fiscal year. Please review the 2023-24 Local Food for School spreadsheet on the CAR web page for the amount of LFS spent by each district.
The FY24 CAR includes edits relating to coding LFS revenues and expenses. Further questions can be directed to Jina Brincks at jina.brincks@iowa.gov or 515-313-5942 or Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
Deposits made into student/adult meal accounts in the Nutrition Fund (Fund 61) are unearned revenue and must be recorded in balance sheet Account 483, Unearned Revenues. These monies are to be accounted for as a liability in the event there are refunds when a student/adult leaves the district. When students/adults make purchases from their meal account, the purchase becomes a sale with Source 16XX. Districts may record student/adult sales monthly using reports or data from the point of sale (POS) system.
For further questions, please contact Jina Brincks at jina.brincks@iowa.gov or 515-313-5942 or Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
Changes have been made to the Teacher Paraeducator Registered Apprenticeship (TPRA) grant. Effective after a school district signs and submits Addendum 3 to Iowa Workforce Development, the TPRA grant changes from a subrecipient model to a beneficiary model. The beneficiary model does not require districts to submit detailed expense documentation but instead funds districts based on an eligible TPRA program with eligible apprenticeships in the program. Effective for FY24, the CAR will not require matching expenditures for Project 4047. For districts that signed Addendum 3, the funding is not subject to 2 CFR 200.501. Additional information regarding the grant program may be found on the Teacher and Paraeducator Registered Apprenticeship Program web page.
Recent questions received, and the related answers, are provided below.
Question: How is the revenue recorded?
Answer: Revenue will be recorded according to modified accrual accounting and coded to Project/Source 4047.
Question: Do districts need to go back and account for the expenditures for the same amount as the revenue?
Answer: Districts cannot make changes to accounting records from a previous year. Effective FY24, the CAR will not require matching expenditures for Project 4047.
Question: Are districts able to defer any of the revenue for use in a future year?
Answer: Districts must follow modified accrual accounting. Revenue is recorded when measurable and available.
Question: If a district is the fiscal agent for TPRA, how does it record a member district’s transactions?
Answer: Districts that are fiscal agents will only account for their own district’s revenues and expenditures in the General Fund and revenues and expenditures for partner districts are accounted for in the Custodial Fund (Fund 9X). Each fiscal agent and partner district would record their own district’s deferred inflow for their own expenditures in the General Fund.
Deferred Inflow Accounting
The accounting period in which funds are available for use (i.e., received in the district's bank account) will impact how the TPRA funds are recorded. Funds that are received after the 60-day accrual period (August 31) are recorded as a receivable, Account 141 and a deferred inflow, Account 623 on the balance sheet.
In a TPRA fiscal agent/partner situation, if the grant reimbursement is not received by August 31, both the fiscal agent and the partner districts will record a deferred inflow for their district’s expenditures in the General Fund.
Below are journal entry examples required for both the fiscal agent and the partner districts if the grant reimbursement is not received within the accrual period (August 31).
Fiscal agent
FY24: Record a receivable and deferred inflow for the district’s expenditures in the General Fund (10).
DR Fund 10, Account 141, Project 4047
CR Fund 10, Account 623, Project 4047
FY25: Upon the TPRA funds being received:
Reverse the district’s receivable and deferred inflow entry.
DR Fund 10, Account 623, Project 4047
CR Fund 10, Account 141, Project 4047
Record the district’s portion of the reimbursement in the General Fund (10).
DR Fund 10, Account 10X, Cash
CR Fund 10, Project/Source 4047
Record the partner districts’ portion of the reimbursement in the Custodial Fund (9X).
DR Fund 9X, Account 10X, Cash
CR Fund 9X, Project/Source 4047
Reimburse the partner districts from the Custodial Fund (9X).
DR Fund 9X, Project 4047, with appropriate function and object based on partners’ expenditures
CR Fund 9X, Account 10X, Cash
Partner district
FY24: Record a receivable and deferred inflow for the district’s expenditures in the General Fund (10).
DR Fund 10, Account 141, Project 4047
CR Fund 10, Account 623, Project 4047
FY25: Upon the TPRA funds being received:
Reverse the district’s receivable and deferred inflow entry.
DR Fund 10, Account 623, Project 4047
CR Fund 10, Account 141, Project 4047
Record the reimbursement in the General Fund (10).
DR Fund 10, Account 10X, Cash
CR Fund 10, Project/Source 4047
For account coding questions, please contact 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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All school business officials and all other district staff responsible for completing the Special Education Supplement, Special Education Billings, Claim Forms, and Medicaid Claiming are reminded to check whether the contact person(s) listed for each of these applications is correct. Please verify that the individuals, telephone numbers, and email addresses are current. This process may be completed on the contact page of the Special Education Billing application in the EdPortal.
For further questions, please contact Luke Markway at luke.markway@iowa.gov or 515-393-8349.
The CAR 2024 Upload and Reports application opens August 15 and is due September 16.
- Read the home screen of the application for important messages.
- Edits are required to be corrected.
- Review warnings to determine if they are applicable.
- Applicable warnings: Make the correction in the FY24 accounting software and upload a new file to the CAR application.
- Not applicable warnings: A comment is required to be provided for any warning that remains in the CAR at the time the application is certified. Be sure to explain why the warning does not apply.
- A “Certify” button will not appear until the file is edit free and comments have been made for each remaining warning.
- Note: The CAR 2024 COA Test Records application remains available for testing of individual records.
Extension Reminder: By rule, extensions are available only for good cause such as illness or death of the staff member responsible for the filing, acts of God, or unforeseeable unusual or unique circumstances (281 IAC 99.3). Please refer to the FY24 CAR Instructions on the Certified Annual Report web page for more information about extension requests. Extension requests can be emailed to kassandra.cline@iowa.gov, no sooner than two weeks prior to the due date and no later than two days prior to the due date.
Flexibility Account Reminder: If the district has expenditures paid from the flexibility fund account, the board-approved resolution required by Iowa Code subsection 298A.2(2) is statutorily required to be filed with the Department. Please send resolutions to song.luong1@iowa.gov.
Certifying the CAR: Be sure to thoroughly review the SES, ATR, and CAR before certifying the applications. Reminder: The LEP Allowable Costs application will also pull data from the CAR.
Reviewing the reports created by the CAR is an important step needed before certifying to help ensure accuracy of the submission.
CAR Reports: CAR reports are available in EdInsight in the Portal. Instructions to run CAR reports are in the How to Run CAR reports on EdInsight document on the CAR web page.
- Balance Sheet
- Review the balances of each account and compare it to the prior year.
- Review large variances to determine a reasonable explanation.
- Ensure all payables and receivables are recorded.
- Verify the fund balances are accurate.
- Verify that the committed fund balance matches the balance the board acted upon by June 30.
- For each fund -
- If there were expenditures against this balance during the year, verify that the balance was adjusted accordingly.
- If there is an assigned fund balance, verify it is accurate.
- Verify the amounts are as expected.
- Review and verify the expenditures for each categorical are appropriate.
- For proprietary and fiduciary funds (60 – 89), verify the balance of the Net Investment in Capital Assets (Account 760) equals the balance of the capital assets (Account 241) less accumulated depreciation (Account 242).
- Treasurer Report by Fund
- This report is a quick summary of beginning balance, revenues, expenditures, and ending balance. Compare the beginning balance to the beginning balance on the district’s accounting software. The adjustments to the beginning balance row is a forced adjustment if the report does not add up—this should be zero. Compare balances, revenues, and expenditures to the prior year for consistency. Research any large or unusual variances.
- Revenues and Expenditures
- Same as above. Compare values to the prior year and research large or unusual variances.
- Miscellaneous Income and Expenditure Report
- Same as above. Compare values to the prior year and research large or unusual variances.
- Does the maximum cash reserve levy amount seem correct in comparison to what was expected? If not, are all payables/expenditures coded? Are fund balances coded correctly?
The CAR is used extensively to provide the data required for state and federal reporting purposes, including reports to the United States Census Bureau, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and the National Education Association (NEA).
For further questions or assistance with uploads, reports, account codes or journal entries, please contact Jina Brincks at jina.brincks@iowa.gov or 515-313-5942 or Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
The Special Education Supplement (SES) opens on August 15th and is available through the Iowa Education Portal. The SES is due September 16 and must be certified on or before that date. Districts must submit all the screens in order to ensure the deficit/surplus is calculated correctly before the SES is certified. Districts must receive board approval for the Modified Supplement Amount for their special education deficit. Districts can include this request on their September or October school board meeting agenda. Please upload the board minutes with the amount that was approved on the Certification Screen of the SES.
Best practice: Certify the CAR and ATR before certifying the SES. After the CAR and ATR are certified, go through each screen in the SES one more time to ensure all data is pulled in the SES from the other two applications
For further questions related to the SES, please contact Luke Markway at luke.markway@iowa.gov or 515-393-8349.
The Annual Transportation Report (ATR) opens on August 15th and is available through the Iowa Education Portal. The ATR is due September 16 and must be certified on or before that date.The application includes multiple items that are pre-populated from CAR data and the Vehicle Information System. There are four values the district must enter.
- Number of miles traveled
- Number of days buses operated
- Number of students transported
- Aggregate number of weeks students were transported
Troubleshooting tip: The number entered into the “Aggregate Number of Weeks” column should be the sum total of weeks for all individual riders – not the total number of weeks for riders as a group. For example, if buses ran for 36 weeks and 10 students rode the bus every week, the total aggregate weeks would be 360 (10 students x 36 weeks) rather than 36.
The aggregate weeks information is used to calculate the average number of students transported, which is shown in Line 1 of the "Miscellaneous" form of the application (total aggregate weeks/number of weeks = average number of students). This is a good item to spot check to make sure the number seems reasonable. Keep in mind a student need only ride a bus one time per week to be counted for one aggregate week.
Please refer to the ”Annual Transportation Report Instructions” document posted on the Department's Pupil Transportation web page. For further assistance, please contact Tom Simpson at tom.simpson@iowa.gov or 515-336-3965.
Fall BEDS Staff application is anticipated to open late September. The Operational Sharing application is anticipated to be open October 1, with a certification deadline of October 30. The Fall BEDS Staff application is not required to be certified before completing the Operational Sharing application.
Reminder: Both the district holding the contract and the district purchasing a portion of the contract are required to report the shared individual in Fall BEDS Staff in order for the sharing to appear in the Operational Sharing application.
- The contract-holding district reports the individual’s entire salary, benefits, and FTE according to the employee’s contract.
- The district purchasing a portion of the contract reports the combined amounts of salary and benefits in the “purchased amount” field. This field is located on the Edit Assignment screen where the district selects the shared status. The district purchasing the service also reports the individual’s FTE according to the portion being purchased. The FTE field is located on the Edit Position screen.
The maximum FTEs a district can generate remains at 21 (Iowa Code § 257.11(5)). Beginning with FY25 reporting, House File (HF) 2615 modifies Iowa Code section 257.11 to not include any supplementary weighting generated for a college and career transition counselor or coordinator toward the maximum 21 FTEs. If a district has an eligible sharing arrangement for a college and career transition counselor or coordinator, supplementary weighting may generate up to 23 FTEs. Sharing arrangements that qualify for supplementary weighting are limited to the position codes below reported in Fall BEDS Staff.
- Superintendent (9 FTEs)
- Business Management (each district can generate supplementary weighting for only one of the following) (4 FTEs)
- 612 - School Business Official (each district can only have one SBO)
- 133 - Other Business Official
- 112 - Board Secretary
- HR Manager (4 FTEs)
- Transportation Director (4 FTEs)
- 167 - Transportation Director
- Operation & Maintenance Director (4 FTEs)
- 168 - Operations Director
- Curriculum Director (2 FTEs)
- 633 - Director/Coordinator/Department Head
- Counselor (2 FTEs)
- Social Worker (2 FTEs)
- 624 - Social Worker
- 198 - Social Worker (Non-BoEE licensed)
- Special Education Director (2 FTEs)
- 515 - Special Education Director
- Workplace Learning Coordinator (2 FTEs)
- 633 - Director/Coordinator/Department Head, assignment 50040
- Mental Health Professional with Statement of Professional Recognition (SPR) from BoEE (2 FTEs)
- 621 - Mental Health Professional
- School Resource Officer (2 FTEs)
- College and Career Counselor or Coordinator (2 FTEs)
- o 720 - College and Career Transition Counselor (licensed)
- o 199 - College and Career Transition Coordinator (non-licensed)
Each district that enters into an eligible sharing agreement with eligible sharing partner(s) will generate supplementary weighting as designated above. A district can only generate supplementary weighting for sharing one individual per position. If an individual holds two eligible operational sharing assignments and is shared with another district for both assignments, only one of the two positions will generate supplementary weighting, assuming the minimum 20 percent time requirement is met.
Social Workers must be licensed by the Iowa Department of Public Health and hold either a master social worker or independent social worker license. To verify a social worker’s license type, use the Iowa Department of Public Health’s online license search.
For new sharing arrangements involving other governmental entities (e.g., city, county) that are not another Iowa public school district or AEA, please submit a copy of the sharing contract and job description to ted.bauer@iowa.gov.
This information is used to verify the sharing arrangement as eligible for generating supplementary weighting.
New sharing arrangements should begin at the beginning of the normal contract period. For example, a 12-month position begins July 1. A new sharing arrangement involving five districts, each purchasing 20 percent of the contract for a position that does not begin until November 1, would be ineligible for operational sharing during the first year of the arrangement. One-third of the year would have transpired. Each district would then have contracted for only two-thirds of 20 percent, or 13.3 percent (0.133 FTE) of the full-time equivalent. However, if a sharing arrangement is contracted to begin October 1 and involves only three partners, each purchasing a minimum of 27 percent of the full-time contract, each partner would then meet the 20 percent minimum (three-fourths of 0.27 = 0.203 FTE).
Questions regarding sharing arrangements eligible for operational sharing can be directed to Shelly Wolterman at shelly.neese@iowa.gov or 515-336-3859. Additional information regarding reporting of shared positions in Fall BEDS Staff can be found on the Fall BEDS Staff Documentation section of the Fall BEDS web page.
Questions regarding eligible sharing arrangements can be directed to Ted Bauer at ted.bauer@iowa.gov or 515-979-5468.
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Information regarding Iowa’s Students First Education Savings Account (ESA) program can be found on the Department's Students First Education Savings Accounts web page.
Determination of a student’s resident district must be ascertained by the local school district. Following are several references to assist in determining whether a student is or is not a resident of your district.
Additional questions can be directed to Ted Bauer at ted.bauer@iowa.gov or 515-979-5468 or Sara Nickel at sara.nickel@iowa.gov or 515-281-3778.
Any balance remaining from a prior year nonpublic textbook allocation should be spent down in the current year.
Pursuant to Iowa Code section 296.2, a petition signed by eligible electors equal in number to 25 percent of those voting at the last election of school officials shall be filed with the president of the board of directors before it is accepted for filing.
- The school board president shall call a meeting of the board within 10 days of receipt of a petition for a school bond election, pursuant to Iowa Code section 296.3. The meeting shall be held within 30 days after the petition is received.
- At the board meeting the board will call the election, fixing the time of the election as required by Iowa Code section 39.2(4)”d”.
Iowa Code section 39.2(4)”d” defines when bond elections can be held. As of July 1, 2023, an election for voters to consider the issuance of bonds or other indebtedness can be held only on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
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Date Criteria
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2025
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2026
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2027
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2028
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2029
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2030
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November - first Tuesday, following the first Monday
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November 4
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November 3
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November 2
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November 7
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November 6
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November 5
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Questions can be directed to Ted Bauer at ted.bauer@iowa.gov or 515-979-5468.
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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 HHS has requested an assurance from each school district that a Medicaid data breach did not occur.
ACTION ITEM:
- No data breach: Send email to Jim Donoghue attesting no data breach has occurred within the last three years.
- Data breach occurred: Send email to Jim Donoghue providing the date of the data breach and whether it was already reported.
Receiving districts are required to provide to the resident districts the documentation necessary to seek Medicaid reimbursement for eligible IEP-ordered health services (Iowa Code § 282.18(8)”c”). Either the receiving or resident district may bill Medicaid for these eligible services. Thus, it is recommended the districts have an agreement in place at the beginning of the year defining which district will submit the Medicaid billing. A guidance document containing a list of the required documentation is available on the Department’s website.
If the district will have a new lead for School-Based Medicaid in 2024-25, please have them contact Jim Donoghue to arrange an orientation as well as a question and answer call.
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Standard school bus driver authorizations issued in school year 2023-2024 expire on August 15. Beginning July 1, school districts have access to issue new authorizations in the Driver Authorization System (DAS) application located in the Iowa Education Portal (Ed Portal). Authorizations should be updated between July 1 and August 15 to avoid a lapse in driving eligibility.
Action items:
- If a driver is no longer employed as a driver for the school district or contractor, please delete the individual from the DAS system by selecting “Delete”.
- Review the driver list for yellow or orange highlighting, reflecting missing or expired items. Expired licensing, physicals, and/or training records will need to be updated to obtain a new authorization.
Steps to issue a new authorization are provided below.
- Log in to the EdPortal.
- Under EdInfo, select “Transportation Applications”, then “Driver Authorization System".
- Select “Driver Information” menu, then “Manage Driver”.
- Click on the “Authorization” button, select the appropriate authorization, then click “Submit”.
- Tip: Ensure authorizations are printed for each driver, which are required to be carried by each driver while operating a school bus.
Failure to possess an accurately reported, current authorization can result in a citation from law enforcement. For further questions, please contact Tom Simpson at tom.simpson@iowa.gov or 515-336-3965.
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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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