September 30, 2022

December 1, 2022 Federal Child Count

To: Directors of Special Education
From: Paul Ferrin, Supervisor, Division of School Finance

The special education child count data reporting process through the Minnesota Automated Reporting Student System (MARSS) has been completed for the September 22, 2022, reporting deadline. Students included in child count must be reported on MARSS with a Special Education Evaluation Status (SEES) of 4 or 6. Refer to the MARSS Reference Guide for definitions of the SEES. Report 13 has been posted to the website and can be accessed at the following location:

Data Center > Data Reports and Analytics > Minnesota Funding Reports (MFR)

• Select your district
• Select category: “Special Education”
• Select year: “22-23”
• Click “List Reports” and select “Special Ed. Unduplicated Child Count by Setting Report #13”

You will need to contact your MARSS coordinator to obtain a copy of Report 33 from the MARSS Web Edit System (WES) Statewide Report Page to verify that resident students are included, particularly those students who are enrolled in another school district. Your MARSS coordinator can also provide a copy of the MARSS 34 Last Load Date Report which shows the last date we loaded fall State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2022 MARSS files from each district. If the date on this report is zero, we did not receive a MARSS file for your district by the September 22, 2022, deadline. If there is a date on the report and there is no printout, either the students were not coded on the MARSS record as special education or there is an error on the enrollment record.

Please review the reports carefully to ensure that all eligible special education students are counted. If you need to make changes to your child count, contact your MARSS coordinator. Please note the next reporting deadline is November 3, 2022. There will be a FINAL submission due January 5, 2023. No changes can be made after the final submission date. There is no appeal process for fall data.

NOTE: A child must have all three of the criteria listed below in place to be counted:

1. Have a valid Individualized Education Program (IEP/IFSP) that is less than one year old as of December 1.
2. Have a current evaluation or re-evaluation that is less than three years old as of December 1.
3. Be receiving special education and related services on December 1.

If you have any questions, please email the Special Education Funding and Data Team.