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July 11, 2023
To: Special Education Directors, Business Managers, SEDRA Contacts
From: Paul Ferrin, Supervisor, Division of School Finance
MEGS is now open for SFY 2024. Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) will need to log into MEGS to submit their Assurances/Applications. The deadline to complete this step was July 1, 2023, in order to be substantially approved and eligible to receive the estimated federal special education allocations at the end of August.
If your LEA was identified for being in Mandatory CEIS Finance Code (FIN) 429 for SFY 2024, you are required to set aside 15% of the total amount of the allocation for FIN 419/FIN 420 and submit a grant application. The Mandatory CEIS FIN 429 and Voluntary CEIS FIN 425 grant applications are now available in MEGS for submission.
If the Identified Official with Authority (IOwA) has not yet gained access to MEGS, they will need to select MEGS from the list of Applications in EDIAM to gain access for themselves and their staff.
EDIAM Access and Instructions
MEGS Access
The first link is to the data submissions page with instructions for IOwAs to gain program access. The next link is access to MEGS.
In MEGS, the IOwA will need to complete all the required information for each of the blue tabs in Central Data, i.e., District Entered Contacts, Risk Assessment, Assurances, etc. Under the Program Assurances, they will need to make sure they are selecting either “yes” or “no” for each of the finance codes they are eligible to apply for, they cannot be left blank. Once this is completed, they can sign off as the Legal Entity under the Assurances Summary tab, then run the Consistency Check under the Submit tab.
Once this has been completed, MDE will run a report to know who has submitted/accepted the Assurances to be eligible to receive federal special education funds and will load allocations ONLY for those who have completed these steps.
In MEGS, locate the CEIS grant application box and click Create an application for 2024. The CEIS grant application sections are now embedded into MEGS to be completed; no paper applications will be accepted. Please make sure you are completing all of the required blue tabs within the grant application.
Example:
 Once all the program and budget sections have been completed, click on the Submit tab and run the Consistency Check to process and submit the application for review. The same review/approval process by the Special Education Program Division and School Finance will still apply. Please submit the CEIS grant applications for Mandatory CEIS FIN 429 or Voluntary CEIS FIN 425 by August 1, 2023, in MEGS.
LEAs under Mandatory CEIS FIN 429 and Voluntary utilizing CEIS FIN 425 funds on students without disabilities/individualized education programs (IEPs) in the 2023-24 school year will be expected to report these students in the Minnesota Automated Reporting Student System (MARSS) with a Special Education Evaluation Status (SEES) 8 by October 10, 2024, through the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) MARSS webpage.
LEAs under FIN 429 Mandatory CEIS who choose to utilize CEIS funds on students with disabilities/IEPs will be expected to separately report these students using the MDE CEIS Student Data Tracker located under the End of Year Reporting tab in MEGS by the October 10, 2024, deadline.
Update for SFY 2024: LEAs identified as being in Mandatory CEIS are required to publicly report on the revision of policies, practices, and procedures if the change in policies is a result of significant disproportionality in identification, placement in restrictive settings, and/or discipline, including suspensions and expulsions of students with disabilities.
Public reporting may include, but is not limited to, presenting information at a local school board meeting or other public forum, disseminating information to the public via mail, and/or posting updated documents or narratives on the district website. The public reporting deadline for SFY 2024 is July 1, 2024.
LEAs who have completed their public reporting requirements should submit a copy of the presentation or minutes from the school board meeting and/or appropriate public forum. These documents should be submitted via email to MDE.CEIS@state.mn.us by July 1, 2024.
If the LEA has any American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds remaining, i.e., FIN 140, 141, 143 or 144, they will need to balance them forward into SFY 2024 and submit the corresponding grant application in SERVS financial. Since these funds need be obligated by September 30, 2023, and drawn by the December 11, 2023, deadline, they will remain in SERVS Financial.
If you have questions regarding the application process, please direct them to the Special Education Funding and Data Team.
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