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 September 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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September 2
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Medicaid Data Breach Three Year History Due
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September 12
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Request/Exhibit Deadline for October SBRC Hearing
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September 15
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CAR, SES, and ATR Applications Due
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September 30
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EL Excess Costs Application Due
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October 14
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SBRC Hearing
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October 15
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Last Date to Notify the SBRC if District Incurred Negative Unspent Balance
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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 3
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Facilities, Elections, and Sales Tax Data Collection Due
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November 3
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School Association Reporting Due
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Staff Contact Information
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Did you enjoy the recent CAR experience? Do you think you can help others tackle the process? Do you consider yourself an account coding guru? Do you experience a high level of satisfaction when you are able to be a resource for others? Join our team!
Education Program Consultant (School Finance - Accounting) (closes 10/12/25)
Reach out to Kassandra Cline at kassandra.cline@iowa.gov or 515-326-2242 if you want to learn more about the incredible impact you can have working on our team supporting SBOs across the State!
Congratulations on completing the Certified Annual Report (CAR), the Special Education Supplement (SES), and the Annual Transportation Report (ATR). We recognize and appreciate everyone's hard work, cooperation, and patience throughout the reporting process!
Virtual Office Hours
If you attended and have feedback regarding the virtual office hours held in August and September, please let us know.
First-Time Users
If you were a first-time user of the Department’s applications, please let us know if the instructions were helpful and what type of information or training might be helpful prior to starting the process (be specific) in future years. Feedback, thoughts, and fresh ideas for enhancements, training, and future collaboration is appreciated.
Please send any feedback to Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
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Question: Where should a fiscal agent for a special program (e.g., therapeutic classroom, alternative program, special education program) record related revenue for serving nonresident students?
Answer: If the district serves as a fiscal agent for a program, related revenues and expenditures should be captured in a Custodial Fund. Only the costs incurred by the district for serving its own students should be reflected outside of the Custodial Fund.
However, if the district did not use a Custodial Fund to account for the special program, additional steps may be required to properly reflect revenue received for programs with special education costs to ensure the district’s special education balance (including a potential deficit) are not impacted for costs and revenues to serve nonresident students.
- The amount of the special education revenue received will need to be entered in Screen 8 of the SES in the “Other Revenue” field.
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Action Item: If the amount received for special education costs to serve nonresident students in a special program from other districts was not included in the SES, the district’s special education deficit balance would be overstated; therefore, the district should request an equal amount of negative MSA from the SBRC to offset the unclaimed revenue.
Reminder: The default appropriate source to pay for special programs is revenue received for that purpose or the unobligated General Fund. For example, just because a student participates in a therapeutic classroom program does not equate to the student being a special education student. Only services provided pursuant to an IEP should be charged to the special education program, and if so, related special education costs for students in special programs are individualized costs.
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SchoolSafety.gov launched the 2025 Back-to-School Campaign, which provides information and guidance to support K-12 schools and districts in preparing for a safe school year. This annual initiative is designed to empower K-12 communities to learn about and engage with resources, trainings, and tools available through SchoolSafety.gov to create safer learning environments for children and educators.
This year’s campaign focuses on prevention, which encompasses the actions schools can take to stop or deter school safety threats or incidents and create safer places of learning. Through the campaign, SchoolSafety.gov released two new resources that can help support K-12 school safety and prevention efforts this school year.
- A Back-to-School Tip Sheet, which outlines eight prevention actions to enhance student and school safety across multiple topic areas. These tips can serve as a starting point for integrating prevention strategies into a comprehensive school safety program this school year.
- A Back-to-School Reading List, which highlights ten prevention-related resources that can inform school safety plans and initiatives. These resources provide guidance and insights on topics such as threat assessment and reporting, bullying prevention, emergency planning, and youth substance use.
SchoolSafety.gov also published a Back-to-School Communications Toolkit that provides sample communications and social media content to promote the campaign and its resources. To learn more and find additional campaign materials, please visit schoolsafety.gov/back-to-school-campaign.
If you have any questions, please contact SchoolSafety@mail.cisa.dhs.gov.
School Bus Safety Week is observed by school districts throughout the country during the third full week of October. This year, School Bus Safety Week is October 20 through October 24. It is a great opportunity for parents, students, teachers, school bus drivers, emergency management personnel, and the media to remind students and other motorists of safe habits around school buses.
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School districts will receive a payment from the County Treasurer in September and March for the Two-Tiered Assessment Limitation. The payment is for an exemption of taxable valuation in Commercial, Industrial and Railroad value for Assessment Year 2024 or Budget Year 2026.
The Business Property Tax Credit (BPTC) was changed from a credit to an exemption in HF 2552 during the 2022 Legislative Session. Property for Commercial, Industrial and Railroad has a 90% rollback, or 90% of their assessed valuation is used to calculate property taxes. This change to the BPTC (now called the Two-Tiered Assessment Limitation) changes the first $150,000 of property valuation to be assessed at a lower rollback equal to the residential rollback of 47.43%. The difference between the residential rollback and 90% of the first $150,000 is what the payment replaces.
The FY26 Aid and Levy has been adjusted to account for and prevent a double payment for the Uniform Levy and Additional Levy portion of your tax rate. You will receive additional revenue for the following levies: Ed Improvement, Instructional Support, Management, Voted and Regular Physical Plant and Equipment, Public Education/Recreation (Playground) and Debt Service.
The payments from the County Treasurer will be distributed by levy rate. This will allow the district to code the payment to the correct fund. Most counties call the payment Tier One payment.
Revenue will be coded to Source 3804, State Replacement for Two-Tiered Assessment Limitation.
Pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 256E, charter schools organized under this chapter receive payments from the state in the year the students are served. For FY25, the amount paid to charter schools was based on the current year’s state cost per pupil (SCPP) and supplemental amounts of teacher leadership and compensation (TLC), professional development (PD), and early intervention childhood (EIC). If the student was counted on the certified enrollment of the resident district in the school year, the actual amount paid to the charter school, including whether the amount was prorated for students attending less than a full year, will be deducted from the amount generated by the resident district for that student in the following year (FY26).
The FY26 deductions for students attending charter schools in FY25 are available on the Department’s State Payment Information web page.
For questions regarding student reporting in Iowa, please contact Rachel Kruse at rachel.kruse@iowa.gov or 515-281-4153. For questions regarding charter school payments, please contact Kassandra Cline at kassandra.cline@iowa.gov or 515-326-2242.
Districts should calculate their unspent authorized budget (UAB) at the end of each fiscal year to determine if the district ended the year with a negative unspent balance. The determination of whether or not the district ended the year with a positive or negative unspent balance is not contingent upon any anticipated award of modified supplemental amount (MSA) from the School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) (e.g., MSA related to special education deficit, excess English Language (EL) instructional program costs).
Districts that ended the year with a negative unspent balance are required to notify the SBRC in writing by October 15, 2025 (289 IAC 6.5(3)). The notification requirement is satisfied through the completion of an SBRC Hearing Request or providing an email to Stephanie Edler (see below). Please include the amount by which the district was negative within the district’s notification. Districts incurring a negative unspent balance larger than the amount of their special education deficit will be required to submit a corrective action plan to the SBRC for the December 16, 2025 hearing. Upon receipt of the notification to appear, the district will receive further exhibit guidance.
Questions regarding the SBRC may be directed to Stephanie Edler, SBRC Liaison, at stephanie.edler@iowa.gov or 515-689-2258.
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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.
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Account Code
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Description
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Source/Project 3424
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Division of Special Education (IDOE) (IC 256B.1) (Aug25)
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Source/Project 4535
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Career and Technical Education (Industry-Recognized Credentials - Credentials to CareersCareers Grant) (FAL/CFDA 84.048) (Aug25)
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Iowa Code section 256C.5(4) provides funding to the Department from preschool foundation aid to pay for state administration and oversight of the preschool program. This funding is critical for the ongoing implementation and monitoring of the program.
This is an on-behalf payment. The district will record the amount as preschool revenue with an equal amount recorded as a preschool expenditure. The amount is $33.17 per preschool budget enrollment. The deduction for the on-behalf payment will be spread throughout the 10 state aid payments, September through June. This is a reduction to cash flow (state aid) sent directly to the district but does not result in general fund spending authority in excess of state aid received, because it is recorded by the district as both an on-behalf revenue and expenditure. The on-behalf revenue will be recorded in Source and Project 3117, Program 460, and the expenditure in an equal amount will be recorded in Function 233X, Program 460, Project 3117, Object 31X.
The FY26 Preschool Funding document for preschool amounts is posted to the State Payment Information for FY26 page of the Department’s website. The amount remains at the $33.17 per preschool budget enrollment.
Further questions can be directed to Song Luong at song.luong1@iowa.gov or 515-205-0259.
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Verification is confirmation of eligibility for free and reduced price meals under the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires verification based on a school’s sample size of free and reduced price school meal applications as of October 1 each school year. The verification process must be completed by November 15. A school district may request an extension of the November 15 deadline. Extension requests may be sent to Patti Harding, Administrative Consultant. The State agency may approve an extension up to December 15 of the current school year due to natural disaster, civil disorder, strike or other circumstances that prevent the district from timely completion of verification activities. USDA requires all School Food Authorities (SFAs), including SFAs that are not required to conduct verification, to complete the Verification Collection Report in IowaCNP by December 12. IowaCNP is the Bureau of Nutrition and Health Services Child Nutrition Program data system for reporting and claiming. A webinar covering the verification process is available on September 29 and the webinar on how to complete the Verification Collection Report for SFAs (public and nonpublic schools, including RCCIs) is October 20. Districts should contact their assigned School Nutrition Program Consultant, Meredith Vrchoticky at meredith.vrchoticky@iowa.gov or 515-975-8103, or Patti Harding at patti.harding@iowa.gov or 515-868-1956 for assistance.
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 questions relating to School-Based Medicaid or other topics in this section, contact Amy DeVault at amy.devault@iowa.gov or 515-326-1032.
Iowa Medicaid will bill any employer/commercial insurance that the Medicaid student holds. The IEP team or Medicaid lead for the district may receive inquiries from families regarding the impact of multiple coverages including private insurance and Medicaid. An informative response would include the relationship between the coverages, including that Iowa Medicaid practices “pay and chase,” meaning that after paying a claim from a district or AEA, if Iowa Medicaid identifies another insurer/ funder, Iowa Medicaid will send the paid claim information to the other insurance company and seek reimbursement.
This is a required practice for Medicaid participants. Federal Code 42 U.S. Code § 1396a of the Social Security Act requires states to take all reasonable measures to ascertain the legal liability of “third parties” for health care items and services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries. As such, Iowa Medicaid Enterprise has no option but to bill third party insurers when policies exist. This is acknowledged on page 24 of the Medicaid application which reads, “You must agree to assign medical payments from a third party to the Medicaid agency for yourself and others who are eligible for Medicaid for whom you can legally assign benefits, cooperate in getting medical payments from third parties, give the Medicaid agency rights to pursue and get medical support from a spouse, and give the Medicaid agency rights to pursue and get money from other health insurance, legal settlements, or other third parties.”
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Questions relating to the articles below may be sent to State Director for Pupil Transportation, Tom Simpson at tom.simpson@iowa.gov or 515-336-3965 or one of the inspectors below.
Joe Funk (Southeast Region) at joe.funk@iowa.gov or 515-669-4987
Chris Errthum (Northeast Region) at chris.errthum@iowa.gov or 515-669-4994
Codie Kellen (West Region) at codie.kellen@iowa.gov or 515-326-1022
Beginning July 1, 2025, the online component of the School Transportation Operators’s Program (S.T.O.P.) for new school bus drivers has transitioned to AEA Learning Online. The training application is currently in the final stages of testing and is anticipated to be available the final week of September.
Additional information, including the inspiration for the updates and directions for accessing the AEA Learning Online system was published in the August School Business Alert and will be published in the October School Business Alert when the training is live. Past School Business Alert newsletters are available on the Department’s School Business Alert web page.
Tip: New drivers are not required to take the online component prior to taking the face-to-face portion of the new driver training.
The new school year brings a number of reminders regarding school transportation.
- Ensure one or more contacts are reported in the Driver Authorization System (DAS) application found in the EdPortal.
- The driver list in the DAS should be accurate, which includes deleting drivers who no longer drive for the district, school, or entity.
- A current authorization must be provided to each school bus driver to carry with them when driving the bus.
- Driver authorizations must be current for school bus drivers to legally operate a school bus.
For the school bus driver authorization to be valid, the driver's license, medical examiner's card, and in-service training must be current.
Contact Information
All entities utilizing the VIS are requested to add local contacts within the application for each of the sections below.
- Vehicle Information System (main contact - required)
- Transportation Director
- Lead Mechanic
- Billing/Accounts Receivable
After logging in to the VIS, the entry area for contacts is accessed through the navigation bar located at the top of the page. The Department uses this contact information for communications.
Required Updates
The VIS also requires regular monitoring to ensure all active school buses are on the list and those no longer in use have been removed. School buses in this context are defined as all vehicles used to provide pupil transportation. Complete information regarding maintenance of the VIS can be obtained by contacting Tom Simpson at tom.simpson@iowa.gov or 515-336-3965.
Guidance, forms, links, training schedules, publications, code references, and other information pertaining to school transportation are available on the Department’s Pupil Transportation web page.
Purchases: Schools may purchase vans of up to 12-passenger capacity, but any van with a rated capacity of 11 or 12, including the driver, must be purchased as a “used” vehicle only. Iowa Code section 322.2(29) defines “used motor vehicle” or “second-hand motor vehicle” as any motor vehicle of a type subject to registration under the laws of this state which has been sold “at retail” as defined in this chapter and previously registered in this or any other state.
Seating Capacity Defined: The seating capacity of the vehicle is set at the time of manufacture, by the manufacturer. The seating capacity rating may not be changed or modified except by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), dealer, or remanufacturer. Seating capacities which vary from the OEM are required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to be identified by an alterer’s certification and information label affixed to the frame of the driver’s door.
Seating Capacity Alteration: Iowa Administrative Code r. 281-44.5(1) states alteration of a Type III vehicle, following manufacture by the OEM, is prohibited. While this includes the addition or removal of seats, the Department will grant an exception for seats which are added or removed as long as the seating capacity does not exceed the capacity as certified by the OEM or on the installed alterer’s certificate and information label as referenced above.
Additional information regarding seating capacity definitions and alterations is available in the Type III Vehicle Information resource located on the Department’s Pupil Transportation page under the Guidance, Information, and Instructions section.
Districts may purchase and use Type III vehicles (typically vans) that are equipped with ramps for use with wheelchairs to transport students. Iowa Administrative Code r. 281-44.5(1) authorizes ramps on the passenger side of the vehicle only and requires compliance with all applicable FMVSS and ADA requirements.
Please note that only “curb-side” ramps are allowed; they may be powered or manual ramps.
A school bus driver’s ability to have a clear, unobstructed view out of the bus is critical for the safety of the driver, the driver’s passengers, other motorists, and pedestrians that may include students walking to school. Listed below are important items for drivers to consider.
- Items should not be placed on the dash or placed in front of glass near the service door or the driver’s window.
- The service door glass should be clean and unobstructed. The top service door glass is used primarily for the driver to observe oncoming traffic, while the bottom glass allows the driver to see if students are close to the door. Frost, moisture, mud, or dirt should all be removed before the bus is used.
- Items should not be attached to or hang in front of the windshield or windows.
- Frost, bugs, and other debris should be removed from the windshield.
- The inside of the windshield and other critical windows should also be cleaned regularly to remove any dust or residue.
- Proper operation of the defrost system and auxiliary windshield fans must be maintained.
Adherence to the items above creates the best opportunity for the driver to have a clear and unobstructed view which enhances safety for all.
September is a special time in Iowa. Students and teachers are eager to learn and teach, Friday night football is back, and farmers are preparing for harvest. These events, however, bring special challenges for student transportation. Student transportation personnel should consider the items listed below.
- Tall corn may reduce visibility at unmarked rural intersections.
- Farm machinery moves slowly and may take up a large amount of the roadway. Drivers should slow immediately upon seeing farm machinery on the road. Drivers should also remember that farm machinery may slow or turn unexpectedly and that the operator of the machinery may not be able to see vehicles around them.
- Drivers should remain patient with farm machinery and only pass when it is safe to do so. Drivers should also remember that other motorists are not necessarily professional drivers and may not exhibit the same level of caution or patience.
- In addition to increased farm machinery and school bus traffic, harvest season often creates more movement in the deer population. Drivers should be aware of the heightened risk of deer on the roadway.
Vigilant drivers are a key component to providing safe and efficient transportation to the students of Iowa during this special time of year.
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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, 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. § 2000d2000e), 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, Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Building, 1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 310, Denver, CO 80204-3582, telephone number: 303-844-5695, TDD number: 800-877-8339, email: OCR.Denver@ed.gov.
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