7 Miss. Code. R. 34-G-300.704

Current through December 10, 2024

Section 7-34-G-300.704 - State-level activities

(a)State administration.

(1) For the purpose of administering Part B of IDEA, including paragraph (c) below, section 619 of IDEA, and the coordination of activities under Part B of IDEA with, and providing technical assistance to, other programs that provide services to children with disabilities The MDE may reserve for each fiscal year not more than the maximum amount the State was eligible to reserve for State administration under section 611 of IDEA for fiscal year 2004 or $800,000 (adjusted in accordance with paragraph (a)(2) below), whichever is greater.

(2) For each fiscal year, beginning with fiscal year 2005, the Secretary cumulatively adjusts

(i) The maximum amount Mississippi was eligible to reserve for State administration under section 611 of IDEA for fiscal year 2004; and

(ii) $800,000, by the rate of inflation as measured by the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal year in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.

(3) Prior to expenditure of funds under paragraph (a) above, the MDE must certify to the Secretary that the arrangements to establish responsibility for services pursuant to section 612(a)(12)(A) of IDEA are current.

(4) Funds reserved under paragraph (a)(1) above may be used for the administration of Part C of IDEA, if the MDE is the lead agency for Mississippi under that Part.

(b)Other State-level activities.

(1) States may reserve a portion of their allocations for other State-level activities. The maximum amount that the MDE may reserve for other State-level activities is as follows

(i) If the amount that the MDE sets aside for State administration under paragraph (a) above is greater than $850,000 and the MDE opts to finance a high cost fund under paragraph (c) below

(A) For fiscal years 2005 and 2006, ten (10) percent of the MDE's allocation under 34 CFR §300.703.

(B) For fiscal year 2007 and subsequent fiscal years, an amount equal to ten (10) percent of the MDE's allocation for fiscal year 2006 under 34 CFR §300.703 adjusted cumulatively for inflation.

(ii) If the amount that the MDE sets aside for State administration under paragraph (a) above is greater than $850,000 and the MDE opts not to finance a high cost fund under paragraph (c) below

(A) For fiscal years 2005 and 2006, nine (9) percent of the MDE's allocation under 34 CFR §300.703.

(B) For fiscal year 2007 and subsequent fiscal years, an amount equal to nine (9) percent of the MDE's allocation for fiscal year 2006 adjusted cumulatively for inflation.

(iii) If the amount that the MDE sets aside for State administration under paragraph (a) above is less than or equal to $850,000 and the MDE opts to finance a high cost fund under paragraph (c) below

(A) For fiscal years 2005 and 2006, 10.5 percent of the MDE 's allocation under 34 CFR §300.703.

(B) For fiscal year 2007 and subsequent fiscal years, an amount equal to 10.5 percent of the MDE's allocation for fiscal year 2006 under 34 CFR §300.703 adjusted cumulatively for inflation.

(iv) If the amount that the MDE sets aside for State administration under paragraph (a) above is equal to or less than $850,000 and the MDE opts not to finance a high cost fund under paragraph (c) below

(A) For fiscal years 2005 and 2006, nine and one-half (91/2) percent of the MDE's allocation under 34 CFR §300.703.

(B) For fiscal year 2007 and subsequent fiscal years, an amount equal to nine and one-half (91/2) percent of the MDE's allocation for fiscal year 2006 under 34 CFR §300.703 adjusted cumulatively for inflation.

(2) The adjustment for inflation is the rate of inflation as measured by the percentage of increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal year in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.

(3) Some portion of the funds reserved under paragraph (b)(1) above must be used to carry out the following activities

(i) For monitoring, enforcement, and complaint investigation; and

(ii) To establish and implement the mediation process required by section 615(e) of IDEA, including providing for the costs of mediators and support personnel;

(4) Funds reserved under paragraph (b)(1) above also may be used to carry out the following activities

(i) For support and direct services, including technical assistance, personnel preparation, and professional development and training;

(ii) To support paperwork reduction activities, including expanding the use of technology in the IEP process;

(iii) To assist LEAs in providing positive behavioral interventions and supports and mental health services for children with disabilities;

(iv) To improve the use of technology in the classroom by children with disabilities to enhance learning;

(v) To support the use of technology, including technology with universal design principles and assistive technology devices, to maximize accessibility to the general education curriculum for children with disabilities;

(vi) Development and implementation of transition programs, including coordination of services with agencies involved in supporting the transition of students with disabilities to postsecondary activities;

(vii) To assist LEAs in meeting personnel shortages;

(viii) To support capacity building activities and improve the delivery of services by LEAs to improve results for children with disabilities;

(ix) Alternative programming for children with disabilities who have been expelled from school, and services for children with disabilities in correctional facilities, children enrolled in State-operated or State-supported schools, and children with disabilities in charter schools;

(x) To support the development and provision of appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities, or the development and provision of alternate assessments that are valid and reliable for assessing the performance of children with disabilities, in accordance with sections 1111(b) and 6111 of the ESEA; and

(xi) To provide technical assistance to schools and LEAs, and direct services, including supplemental educational services as defined in section 1116(e) of the ESEA to children with disabilities, in schools or LEAs identified for improvement under section 1116 of the ESEA on the sole basis of the assessment results of the disaggregated subgroup of children with disabilities, including providing professional development to special and regular education teachers, who teach children with disabilities, based on scientifically based research to improve educational instruction, in order to improve academic achievement to meet or exceed the objectives established by the State under section 1111(b)(2)(G) of the ESEA.

(c)LEAhigh cost fund.

(1) In general

(i) For the purpose of assisting LEAs (including a charter school that is an LEA or a consortium of LEAs) in addressing the needs of high need children with disabilities, the State has the option to reserve for each fiscal year ten (10) percent of the amount of funds the MDE reserves for other State-level activities under paragraph (b)(1) above

(A) To finance and make disbursements from the high cost fund to LEAs in accordance with paragraph (c) during the first and succeeding fiscal years of the high cost fund; and

(B) To support innovative and effective ways of cost sharing by the MDE, by an LEA, or among a consortium of LEAs, as determined by the MDE in coordination with representatives from LEAs, subject to paragraph (c)(2)(ii) below.

(ii) For purposes of paragraph (c), LEA includes a charter school that is an LEA, or a consortium of LEAs.

(2)

(i)The MDE must not use any of the funds reserved pursuant to paragraph (c)(1)(i) above, which are solely for disbursement to LEAs, for costs associated with establishing, supporting, and otherwise administering the fund. The MDE may use funds reserved under paragraph (a) above for those administrative costs.

(ii)The MDE must not use more than five (5) percent of the funds reserved pursuant to paragraph (c)(1)(i) above for each fiscal year to support innovative and effective ways of cost sharing among consortia of LEAs.

(3)

(i) The MDE must develop, not later than ninety (90) days after reserved funds under paragraph (c)(1)(i) above, annually review, and amend as necessary, the State's plan for the high cost fund. The State plan must

(A) Establish, in consultation and coordination with representatives from LEAs, a definition of a high need child with a disability that, at a minimum

(1) Addresses the financial impact a high need child with a disability has on the budget of the child's LEA; and

(2) Ensures that the cost of the high need child with a disability is greater than three (3) times the average per pupil expenditure (as defined in section 9101 of the ESEA) in the State;

(B) Establish eligibility criteria for the participation of an LEA that, at a minimum, take into account the number and percentage of high need children with disabilities served by an LEA;

(C) Establish criteria to ensure that placements supported by the fund are consistent with the requirements of §§300.114 through 300.118;

(D) Develop a funding mechanism that provides distributions each fiscal year to LEAs that meet the criteria developed by the MDE under paragraph(c)(3)(i)(B) above;

(E) Establish an annual schedule by which the MDE must make its distributions from the high cost fund each fiscal year; and

(F) If the MDE elects to reserve funds for supporting innovative and effective ways of cost sharing under paragraph (c)(1)(i)(B) above, describe how these funds will be used.

(ii) The MDE must make its final State plan available to the public not less than thirty (30) days before the beginning of the school year, including dissemination of such information on MDE's website.

(4)

(i)The MDE must make all annual disbursements from the high cost fund established under paragraph (c)(1)(i) above in accordance with the State plan published pursuant to paragraph (c)(3) above.

(ii) The costs associated with educating a high need child with a disability, as defined under paragraph (c)(3)(i)(A) above, are only those costs associated with providing direct special education and related services to the child that are identified in that child's IEP, including the cost of room and board for a residential placement determined necessary, consistent with §300.114, to implement a child's IEP.

(iii) The funds in the high cost fund remain under the control of the MDE until disbursed to an LEA to support a specific child who qualifies under the State plan for the high cost funds or distributed to LEAs, consistent with paragraph (c)(9) below.

(5) The disbursements under paragraph (c)(4) above must not be used to support legal fees, court costs, or other costs associated with a cause of action brought on behalf of a child with a disability to ensure FAPE for such child.

(6) Nothing in paragraph (c) of this section

(i) Limits or conditions the right of a child with a disability who is assisted under Part B of IDEA to receive FAPE pursuant to section 612(a)(1) of IDEA in the least restrictive environment pursuant to section 612(a)(5) of IDEA; or

(ii) Authorizes the MDE or LEA to establish a limit on what may be spent on the education of a child with a disability.

(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (c)(1) through (6) above, the MDE may use funds reserved pursuant to paragraph (c)(1)(i) above for implementing a placement neutral cost sharing and reimbursement program of high need, low incidence, catastrophic, or extraordinary aid to LEAs that provides services to high need children based on eligibility criteria for such programs that were created not later than January 1, 2004, and are currently in operation, if such program serves children that meet the requirement of the definition of a high need child with a disability as described in paragraph (c)(3)(i)(A) above.

(8) Disbursements provided under paragraph (c) must not be used to pay costs that otherwise would be reimbursed as medical assistance for a child with a disability under the State Medicaid program under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.

(9) Funds reserved under paragraph (c)(1)(i) above from the appropriation for any fiscal year, but not expended pursuant to paragraph (c)(4) above before the beginning of their last year of availability for obligation, must be allocated to LEAs in the same manner as other funds from the appropriation for that fiscal year are allocated to LEAs under §300.705 during their final year of availability.

(d) Inapplicability of certain prohibitions. The MDE may use funds reserved under paragraphs (a) and (b) above without regard to

(1) The prohibition on commingling of funds in §300.162(b).

(2) The prohibition on supplanting other funds in §300.162(c).

(e) Special rule for increasing funds. The MDE may use funds reserved under paragraph (a)(1) above as a result of inflationary increases under paragraph (a)(2) above to carry out activities authorized under paragraph(b)(4)(i), (iii), (vii), or (viii) above.

(f) Flexibility in using funds for Part C. As a State eligible to receive a grant under section 619 of IDEA, the MDE may use funds made available under paragraph (a)(1) above, §300.705(c), or §300.814(e) to develop and implement a State policy jointly with the lead agency under Part C of IDEA and the MDE to provide early intervention services (which must include an educational component that promotes school readiness and incorporates preliteracy, language, and numeracy skills) in accordance with Part C of IDEA to children with disabilities who are eligible for services under section 619 of IDEA and who previously received services under Part C of IDEA until the children enter, or are eligible under State law to enter, kindergarten, or elementary school as appropriate.

7 Miss. Code. R. 34-G-300.704