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 February 2025
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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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February 3
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Last Day to Request Authority to Charge Administrative Cost to Special Education for the Subsequent Fiscal Year
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February 7
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Deadline to Request to Appear or Submit Exhibits for March 11, 2025 School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) Hearing
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February 17
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Last Day to Bill for First Semester Special Education Tuition
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February 28
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AEA Budget Submission Deadline
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March 11
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School Budget Review Committee Hearing
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March 31
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Last Day to Submit LEA and AEA Electronic Annual Audit of Prior Year to the Department and Auditor of the State's Office
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Staff Contact Information
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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!
View State of Iowa "Benefits at a Glance 2025". We are currently accepting applications for one position on our team.
Education Program Consultant - School-Based Medicaid - Closes 2/16/25
This position serves as a technical resource to the field regarding eligible services, coding, and billing and engages in statewide policy conversations.
It is important for our team to be fully staffed with knowledgeable, dedicated folks so we can best support those in the field! Questions about the position responsibilities or ways this role makes a difference internally and across the state can be sent to Kassandra Cline at kassandra.cline@iowa.gov or 515-326-2242.
HF2612 implementation resources are available on the Department’s HF2612 web page.
One new resource, the Distribution and Use of State and Federal Special Education Allocations Beginning July 1, 2025, requires districts to establish an automatic process to pay 90% of special education support services funding to the Area Education Agency (AEA) from which the services will be provided. This resource also includes a list of services that AEAs are required to provide, as well as a list of services for which AEAs may elect to charge a fee.
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Question: School safety plans are meant to be confidential. If a purchase is made to help implement the school safety plan, is the content of the invoice still required to be included in the publication of the schedule of bills?
Answer: Yes. Iowa Code § 279.36 requires the name of the person or firm making the claim, purpose of the claim, and amount of claim to be included in the publication of the schedule of bills. However, the level of detail required surrounding the purpose of the claim may be determined locally.
Example: Door lock purchase
- District A may choose to state the purpose as new door locks for all classroom entry doors at XYZ Attendance Center.
- District B may choose to state the purpose as new door locks.
Question: How may a district track total funds spent on educational and/or media services?
Answer: The educational and media services funds are not a restricted source for districts. Revenue is receipted to Source 1111, same as other local property taxes received. A project code is not required to use these funds. Districts may choose to use a district assigned project code (8XXX or 9XXX) for tracking purposes.
Question: At what point in the process of determining services eligible for Medicaid reimbursement should parental consent be acquired?
Answer: Local Education Agencies (LEAs) or AEAs must obtain parental consent for Medicaid reimbursement prior to obtaining a Release of Information to communicate with the child's healthcare provider for reimbursement or releasing educational records if utilizing a vendor.
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The "2024-25 District AEA Flowthrough Amounts", "2024-25 Sources for Local Projects", "2024-25 Preschool Funding" (with administrative reduction amounts), and "2024-25 Utility Replacement Tax Payments" documents are available under the heading “Data Used to File FY25 CAR” on the Certified Annual Report (CAR) web page.
For further information, please contact Jina Brincks at jina.brincks@iowa.gov or 515-313-5942.
Message from the Department of Management:
The February 2025 income surtax payment (paid around January 15) is the second and final income surtax payment for the 2023 income tax year. The payment represents the remaining amount of income surtaxes collected for your district. A larger portion was paid in December so the final payment is much lower compared to past February payments.
There are 12 districts who received a December payment but not a February payment. This is due to Department of Revenue adjustments causing your remaining amount to be negative. There is nothing you need to do as it will get credited once 2024 income taxes are filed.
This payment is based upon the income surtax rates established for your 2023-2024 budget. If your district did not have a surtax for the Physical Plant and Equipment (PPEL) Fund, the entire payment should be credited to the General Fund. On the other hand, if you had both General Fund and PPEL surtax, then split the income surtax in accordance with the rates. The PPEL Income Surtax rate can be found on line 19.4 of the Aid and Levy Worksheet. The General Fund income surtax rates can be found on lines 10.15 and 11.4. The Department of Management has provided a summary, including the split between funds, which is posted under "State Payment Information FY25" on the State Payment Information webpage.
The transportation reimbursement amount for the 2024-25 school year is $719 per student for qualifying open enrolled families. Transportation assistance is only available to families who are open enrolled between contiguous districts and meet income requirements. The cost of transportation reimbursement incurred by the resident district should be deducted from the tuition sent to the receiving district. If the application for transportation assistance is filed after the school year begins, the reimbursement request should be prorated.
The resident district has the authority to determine how transportation assistance is provided for eligible students. The type of transportation assistance offered is not determined by the parent/guardian.
The resident district may fulfill its statutory obligation in one of the three ways listed below.
- Provide transportation for the student(s) to a stop on the receiving district’s bus line.
- Allow the receiving district to enter the resident district to pick up the student(s), if requested by the receiving district. If either the sending or receiving district does not approve this arrangement, the resident district is still obligated to provide transportation assistance.
- Provide the parent/guardian with a cash reimbursement of $719 per student, up to four students in a family. The maximum number of students can include only one secondary (9-12) student and up to three elementary (K-8) students (281 IAC 17.8).
Additional information is available on the Department’s website, including the Open Enrollment Handbook and Open Enrollment Transportation Assistance handout with income guidelines.
For more details about transportation assistance, contact Tom Simpson at tom.simpson@iowa.gov or 515-336-3965.
For more information about open enrollment, contact Sara Nickel at sara.nickel@iowa.gov or 515-971-7558.
Friendly reminder: There is a difference between Property Tax and Utility Excise Replacement Tax. The former is a property tax and the latter is not a property tax. Federal reporting and the district budget process are affected by related coding choices.
- Source 1171: Gas and Electric or Utility Replacement or Excise Tax (Iowa Code chapter 437A)
- Source 111X: (Current) Utility (not gas and electric) or Delinquent Utility
To assist districts, the FY25 Utility Excise Replacement Taxes have been added to the Department’s Certified Annual Report web page under the section "Data Used to File FY25 CAR", in a file titled “2024-25 Utility Replacement Tax Payments”. Only utility items labeled "Gas and Electric", "Utility Replacement", or "Excise Tax" should be coded as Utility Excise Replacement Taxes, Source 1171. Items labeled "Utilities" or "Current/Delinquent Utilities" are coded as regular property tax, Source 1110 (1111).
An additional resource is available on the Department’s Uniform Financial Accounting web page titled "Property Taxes - Types and Coding" that includes coding detail for different types of taxes. FY25 estimates are available on the Department of Management’s School Resources web page in a file titled Outstanding Property Tax Levies and Maximum Levy Limits. FY26 estimates will be posted this summer.
If you have any 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, or Bobby Wilson at bobby.wilson@iowa.gov or 515-210-9674.
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The Iowa Chart of Account Coding, found on the Department's Uniform Financial Accounting web page, is regularly updated to reflect changes necessary to meet fiscal reporting needs. The most recent update is provided below.
January 2025
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Account Code
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Description
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Source/Project 4028
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Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFR) (Teacher Paraeducator Registered Apprenticeship Program 2.0) (IWD) (FAL/CFDA 21.027) (Beneficiary model-Funding is not subject to 2 CFR 200.501) (Jan25)
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Source/Project 4743
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Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (FAL/CFDA 21.027) (Jan25)
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According to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), Statement 101 was issued to improve the clarity and consistency of financial reporting of compensated absences.
GASB 101 defines compensated absence as any of the following:
- Cash payments when the leave is used for time off;
- Other cash payments, such as payment for unused leave upon termination of employment; or
- Noncash settlements, such as conversion to defined benefit postemployment benefits.
Examples of compensated absences are below.
- Vacation leave
- Sick leave
- Paid time off (PTO)
- Holidays
- Parental leave
- Bereavement leave
- Certain types of sabbatical leave
Liabilities for compensated absences must be recognized for the leaves below.
- Leave that has not been used if all of the following are true:
- The leave is attributable to services already rendered.
- The leaves accumulate.
- Leave is more likely than not (a likelihood of more than 50 percent) to be used or be paid for the leave.
- Leave that has been used but not yet paid or settled through noncash means.
Exceptions to the liability recognition under this Statement.
- The following leaves should not be recognized as liabilities until the leave begins:
- Parental leave
- Military leave
- Jury duty leave
- Unlimited leave should not be recognized as liabilities until the leave is used.
- Holiday leave that is taken on a specific date and not at the employee’s discretion.
- Termination benefits under GASB Statement 47.
Measurement basis for this Statement.
- Use the employee’s pay rate at the financial statement date.
- A liability for leave that has been used but not yet paid or settled should be measured at the amount of the cash payment or noncash settlement to be made.
- Certain salary-related payments that are directly and incrementally associated with payments for leave also should be included in the measurement of the liabilities. Examples include FICA, IPERS, or other payroll taxes.
Additional detailed guidance for GASB 101 implementation can be found on the GASB website under “Standards & Guidance - Pronouncements”:
GASB 101 journal entry examples have been added to the Department’s Uniform Financial Accounting web page on the “UFA journal entries” spreadsheet under the “GASB 101 Comp Absences (Gov)” and "GASB 101 Comp Absences (Prop)” tabs.
If you have further questions, please contact Bobby Wilson at bobby.wilson@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 Bureau of School Business Operations hosted the Finance Roundtable at the Grimes Building on Wednesday, January 23. Led by Bureau Chief Kassandra Cline, 28 members attended and discussed various agenda topics including Special Education Billing application feedback, categorical balances, school bus driver training, spending authority in context, and other current topics.
Membership in this invited focus group includes representatives from the Department of Education, Department of Management, Legislative Services Agency, State Auditor's Office, school districts, area education agencies, Iowa Association of School Business Officials, Iowa Association of School Boards, School Administrators of Iowa, Iowa School Finance Information Services, and Iowa State Education Association. The group meets three times during the school year to discuss school finance-related issues and is scheduled to meet again in April.
As districts are preparing for the upcoming Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) testing window, please be sure that you have discussed the testing protocols and security guidance provided by the publisher. This discussion should include building level administrators and staff who will be included in the assessment process, as well as staff who may be working with home school families to complete the assessment. Please remember the ISASP is not to be sent home for completion by students outside of the school building, AEA, or other location designated for testing and is to be supervised by district or AEA personnel who have completed the required training modules for those administering the assessment. Students who are homeschooled under Independent Private Instruction (IPI) assume the cost of an annual assessment if one is requested by the family. Competent Private Instruction (CPI) students are never charged for an annual assessment.
Questions can be directed to the Department of Education's Home Schooling (Private Instruction) contact Buffy Campbell at buffy.campbell@iowa.gov or 515-954-8651.
School districts and AEAs may purchase goods and services through master agreements negotiated by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS) available on the Iowa Management and Procurement Contracts web page. A wide variety of goods and services are available at rates that are already negotiated. Items range from copy paper to automobiles. Purchases from master agreements do not require a competitive bid process.
If the school district is responsible for providing textbooks for a concurrent enrollment course, the expectation is that textbooks are provided to students enrolled in the concurrent enrollment course consistent with the district's established textbook policy and in the same manner as the district provides textbooks for all students of the district (Iowa Code chapter 301).
If the district charges an annual textbook rental fee to all students, that established fee covers all textbooks for all courses (e.g., high school credit only, concurrent enrollment). If the district charges no fee for textbooks, then no fee may be charged to students for concurrent enrollment textbooks. Only if a district’s policy is to charge on a book-by-book basis to all students for all courses can a district charge a textbook fee for each concurrent enrollment course.
It would not be permissible for a district to establish a separate textbook policy specific to concurrent enrollment courses which may require a student to purchase textbooks for their concurrent enrollment courses; doing so would set additional restrictions on participation in the course, such as charging tuition which is expressly prohibited in state law (281 IAC 22.7(2)).
Helpful tips are provided below.
- This applies to all instructional delivery methods (e.g., in the high school, online, on-campus, through a career academy).
- There would be nothing preventing the student from purchasing the textbook for the concurrent enrollment course if they want to keep it, but requiring the student to purchase the book would equate to charging tuition, which is not permissible.
- Refer to page 27 of the Senior Year Plus Guide for additional information.
For questions or comments, contact Lisa Washington, Senior Year Plus, at lisa.washington@iowa.gov or 515-326-5389, or Ted Bauer, School Business Operations, at ted.bauer@iowa.gov or 515-979-5468.
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.
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For School-Based Medicaid policy questions, contact Tashina Hornaday, Medical Policy Program Manager at Iowa Health and Human Services, at tashina.hornaday@hhs.iowa.gov or 515-201-3553.
For Medicaid procedure questions, contact Melissa Walker, Administrative Consultant of School Health at the Department of Education, at melissa.walker@iowa.gov or 515-864-6701.
If your district participates in Medicaid and paid for any private duty nurses during the 2024-25 fiscal year, please submit the hours and dollars paid for these individuals to Melissa Walker at melissa.walker@iowa.gov. This data is worked into the Medicaid rate setting for 2025-26.
Iowa Health and Human Services (Iowa HHS) identified an error on the January 2025 billing remittance for AEAs, LEAs, and Infant and Toddler programs.
The billing remittance does not reflect the correct Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for January and therefore indicates an inaccurate amount of money that is required to be paid to Iowa HHS.
Iowa HHS is working to get the billing statements corrected and will have corrected statements uploaded into Iowa Medicaid Portal Access (IMPA) no later than January 31, 2025.
Please disregard the January statement with the run date of 01/25/2025.
Additionally, it has been identified that remittance statements from October 2024, November 2024, and December 2024 also had an incorrect FMAP percentage listed.
The corrected remittance statements from October, November, and December will be uploaded to IMPA.
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The Department’s vehicle inspection team reminds pupil transportation providers that “No Smoking” decals are required on all vehicles transporting students (Iowa Code § 142D.6(3)) and Ethanol Blended Gasoline decals are required on vehicles that are required to operate on ethanol blended gasoline (Iowa Code § 279.34).
“No Smoking” Decals
“No Smoking” decals are required by the Iowa Smokefree Air Act of 2008:
Iowa Code section 142D.6(3) Notice of nonsmoking requirements — posting of signs.
The owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of a public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area where smoking is prohibited under this chapter shall clearly and conspicuously post in and at every entrance to the public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area, “no smoking” signs or the international “no smoking” symbol. Additionally, a “no smoking” sign or the international “no smoking” symbol shall be placed in every vehicle that constitutes a public place, place of employment, or area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5 under this chapter, visible from the exterior of the vehicle. All signs shall contain the telephone number for reporting complaints and the internet site of the department. The owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of the public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area may use the sample signs provided on the department’s internet site, or may use another sign if the contents of the sign comply with the requirements of this subsection.
Ethanol Blended Gasoline Decals
Iowa Code section 279.34 Motor vehicles required to operate on ethanol blended gasoline.
A motor vehicle purchased by or used under the direction of the board of directors to provide services to a school corporation shall not operate on gasoline other than ethanol blended gasoline as defined in section 214A.1. The motor vehicle shall also be affixed with a brightly visible sticker which notifies the traveling public that the motor vehicle is being operated on ethanol blended gasoline. However, the sticker is not required to be affixed to an unmarked vehicle used for purposes of providing law enforcement or security.
Ordering Decals
“No Smoking” decals may be ordered from the contact listed below.
Department of Health and Human Services (no cost) – (515) 336-2335, tobcontactus@hhs.iowa.gov
“Ethanol Blended Gasoline” decals may be ordered from the contact listed below.
Iowa Department of Agriculture (no cost) – (515) 725-1492, karla.crawford@iowaagriculture.gov
Both “No Smoking” and “Ethanol Blended Gasoline” decals may be ordered from the contact listed below.
Iowa Prison Industries (cost) – (800) 332-7922, ipicustomerservice@iowa.gov
New FMVSS for Electric-Powered Vehicles
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a Final Rule establishing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 305a, to replace FMVSS 305, “Electric-powered vehicles: Electrolyte spillage and electric shock protection”. FMVSS 305a applies to light and heavy-duty vehicles and includes performance requirements for the propulsion battery. NHTSA is also establishing a new regulation, part 561, “Documentation for Electric-powered Vehicles,” that requires manufacturers to compile risk mitigation documentation and to submit standardized emergency response information to assist first and second responders handling electric vehicles.
This Final Rule is effective February 18, 2025 and can be found in 49 CFR Parts 561 and 571.
2025 School Bus Driver International Safety Competition
The Driver and Competition Handbook and the Judges application are available on the National School Transportation Association’s (NSTA) Safety Competition web page.
Updated Procedures: Oral Fluid Specimen Collection
The United States Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) announced the release of the “DOT Oral Fluid Specimen Collection Procedures Guidelines”.
On May 2, 2023, DOT published a final rule that authorizes employers to use oral fluid drug testing as an alternative methodology to urine drug testing. As part of that rule, DOT requires that to be permitted to act as an oral fluid collector in the DOT drug testing program, an individual must (among other things) be knowledgeable about the current “DOT Oral Fluid Specimen Collection Procedures Guidelines”.
The new guidelines provide information concerning normal oral fluid collection procedures and some of the more common problems or situations that may be encountered during an oral fluid collection. It is important to note that the information contained in the guidelines is not intended to be used to interpret or be viewed as adding to or modifying the legal requirements of 49 CFR Part 40.
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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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