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    IDEA 2004 Federal Regulations (PDF version)
The final regulations to implement Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). The regulations took effect on October 13, 2006. (307 pages) HTML Version

August 21, 2008

From: Sally Vaughn, P.h.D. Deputy Superintendent / Chief Academic Officer

SUBJECT: Standards for Extended School Year Services in Michigan

On August 12, 2008 the State Board of Education approved Standards for Extended School Year (ESY) Services in Michigan (Standards). A Guidance document is also available to assist with the implementation of the Standards. The Standards and the Guidance documents are found on the Department website at http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-6530_6598-198486--,00.html.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) implementing regulations at 300.106(b)(2) require that states have ESY Standards. These regulations do not create new legal standards but instead codify well established case law in the area and reflect longstanding interpretation of the IDEA by the courts and the United States Department of Education that the right of an individual child with a disability to receive ESY services is based on the child's entitlement to a Free Appropriate Public Education.

The new Standards will be integrated into the Administrative Rules for Special Education as part of a new rule set. Notice of the period of public comment is expected to be made in the fall with public hearings scheduled during November and December.

The Department will be working with intermediate districts/educational service agencies, grantees, and advocacy organizations to assure that guidance on these standards is disseminated and accessible.

School districts are expected to begin using the Standards immediately. Should you have any questions, please contact Bob Hove, Special Education and Early Intervention Services, HoveR@michigan.gov or 517 373-1691.

July 22, 2008

FROM: Sally Vaughn, Ph.D. Deputy Superintendent/Chief Academic Officer

SUBJECT: Special Education Actual Cost Report Form SE-4096 for the 2007-08 School Year

The Special Education Actual Cost Report Form SE-4096 will be mailed, under separate cover, to all local and intermediate school district superintendents and public school academy administrators during the last week of July 2008. The purpose of this form is to generate the Special Education Headlee Obligation payment under Section 51c of the State School Aid Act.

Local school districts and public school academies need to complete and return the form to their intermediate school district by September 16, 2008. If the local school district or public school academy did not provide any special education programs or services during the 2008 fiscal year, they need to simply check the box, sign the bottom of the form, and return it to their intermediate school district.

Section 18 of the State School Aid Act requires that all Special Education Actual Cost Reports

be submitted to the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services, no later than September 30, 2008. Section 18 imposes a state aid penalty for the failure to submit the Special Education Actual Cost Report.

Questions regarding the completion or filing of the SE-4096 Special Education Actual Cost Report should be directed to Dianne Easterling, Consultant, Office of Special Education and

Early Intervention Services. She may be reached at (517) 241-4517 or by e-mail at easterlingd@michigan.gov.

Friday July 18, 2008

FROM: Jane Reagan, Michigan Department of Education, OSE-EIS

Subject: Medicaid School Based Services Webinar Sessions Will be Scheduled for July-August - more details and registration information coming soon


Very Brief Summary of Changes in Michigan's Medicaid School Based Services (SBS) Program and Webinar Dates are Below

• On May 22, 2008 Michigan's Medicaid Program released the new guidelines for the SBS Program that we've been working on for five years as mandated by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It is 75 pages in length, and changes almost every component of the program and became effective July 1, 2008, two weeks ago. 
  
•  On June 30, 2008, just a few weeks later, several portions of that publication changed again when Congress passed and President Bush signed a bill to delay most of the proposed Medicaid federal regulations that would have eliminated Medicaid reimbursement for the Administrative Outreach program and all transportation to ISDs. As a result, we expect you will be reimbursed for both Administrative Outreach and Transportation this coming year.
  
• So, over the next few months, Michigan Medicaid will be trying to catch up with the federal mandates, translate them to state-specific guidelines, and communicate the actual policy to the ISDs, Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and the Michigan School for the Deaf (MSD).
  
• Webinar Training sessions will be occurring in the next couple months (July-August-maybe September) to provide a 1-2 hour overview of Michigan's proposed changes. You may be receiving a formal invitation to register yourself and the appropriate staff to sit in on one of these presentations. I will also post the invitation and registration information to the Special Education Directors' List Servs as soon as I get it. We recommend all of you Directors, your Medicaid Coordinator, your business officials who deal with special education costs and cost reports (SE-4096 and SE 4094-transportation) to sit in on these brief presentations.

SOME Fee For Service Changes 

•  Reimbursement for Medicaid SBS will be special education cost-report-based, and for these first 1.5 years, you will be paid 'interim monthly payments' based on 75% of your 2006-07 Medicaid reimbursement minus transportation. Monthly payment letters were sent by DCH's Bauer/Gensterblum in June 2008.
  
• Since 2004, Medicaid has conducted one time study each quarter, but now each year, there will be four time studies each quarter, involving more of your special education staff, including para-professionals and case managers/service coordinators for the first time. The cost of the time study contract has doubled as a result, but DCH will pay 40% of the contract costs after federal Medicaid match. Expect ISD share of the contract costs to increase from your costs last year, based on your FTE pupil count.
  
• More detailed reporting of staff salaries and benefits will be required with the new guidelines. The annual cost reports will be completed by your business office staff for special education and special education transportation costs. Sample cost reports will be provided at the webinar trainings.  
  
• Medicaid will no longer reimburse for services for students older than 21 years; no longer reimburse for services delivered by speech therapists who do NOT have their CCC credential; no longer reimburse for teacher consultant services.
  
• The Michigan School for the Deaf was eliminated from participating in the FFS  program because I did not help Medicaid understand MSD can use the new reimbursement methodology. We are working on reversing that decision.
  
•  Already the Case management regulation became effective March 2008, and Michigan Medicaid has issued a letter suggesting ISDs track these services but not get paid until Congress' final action is clear. 
  
• There are efforts to help ISDs estimate the fiscal impact of the new cost-based reimbursement system before your actual costs are reconciled in the Winter/Spring of 2010.

Administrative Outreach component

Backcasting. The Department of Community Health is appealing the Backcasting report from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In the meantime, there is still no final report with ISD-specific amounts, but discussions at higher levels are continuing. It appears that Districts that placed in reserves, all or most of their Administrative Outreach dollars should be able to cover any potential liabilities. We are hoping to know more by the end of this calendar year.

NAME Annual Conference Sept 23-26 in Philadelphia. The National Alliance for Medicaid in Education Annual Conference registration is open. Consider sending your Medicaid staff for outstanding networking and learning from colleagues who are national experts, including Nancy Reder (NASDSE) and Bruce Hunter (AASA). Keynote Speaker is Sara Rosenbaum, long time expert on Medicaid in the Schools. For more information, click on 2008 conference at:  www.MedicaidForEducation.org

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. ReaganJ@michigan.gov OR    517-335-2250.

April 3, 2008

SUBJECT: Maintenance of Effort as required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

From: Sally Vaughn, Deputy Superintendent, to all Superintendents and PSA Administrators.

The federal regulation implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) at 34 C.F.R. -300.203 requires that all local school districts, public school academies, and intermediate school districts who expend IDEA, Part B funds comply with "maintenance of effort" provisions. These provisions state that IDEA, Part B funds may not be used to reduce the level of state and local expenditures for the education of pupils with disabilities from one year to the next. Furthermore, Section 300.203 requires that the state agency have on file information from each district which expends IDEA, Part B funds, that this requirement is met.

The purpose of this memorandum is to notify local school districts, public school academies and intermediate school districts that expended IDEA, Part B funds in the 2006-07 fiscal year of the process that will be followed to comply with

34 C.F.R. -300.203. The Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services (MDE-OSE/EIS) will complete an initial review from information previously submitted. Each district will be notified in writing of the results of this initial review.

Districts that have not maintained state and local effort following this initial review will be contacted to provide additional information under

34 C.F.R. -300.204, Exception to Maintenance of Effort. It is anticipated that intermediate school district personnel will work in cooperation with local school district and public school academy personnel to ensure that all federal exceptions to the maintenance of effort requirement are applied appropriately in the attempt to document state and local effort.

The Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services will be available to provide technical assistance. The failure of the local school district, public school academy, or intermediate school district to maintain state and local effort will result in repayment with non-federal funds to the Michigan Department of Education the lesser of the effort that was not maintained, or the total of the federal allocation.

The MDE-OSE/EIS has developed a Maintenance of Effort Planning Tool to assist local school districts, public school academies, and intermediate school districts in calculating whether fiscal effort has been maintained. The interactive spreadsheet can be accessed two ways, by:

1) Clicking the following link:
         http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-6530_6598_8391-140285--,00.html

2) or by accessing the MDE-OSE/EIS web page: 

•  www.Michigan.gov/OSE-EIS
• Select "Finance Management" 
• Select "Maintenance of Fiscal Effort as required Under IDEA"

If you have further questions regarding Maintenance of Effort in general, please contact Monica Butler (ButlerM3@Michigan.gov) or John Cloft (CloftJ@Michigan.gov), Program Finance, at (517) 241-4035.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 5:34 PM

Subject: HS Cohort extensions relative to students with disabilities

From: Frances F. Loose, Ph.D., Supervisor, Program Improvement, Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services loosef@mi.gov

If your district submits requests for one-year high school cohort extension for some of your class of 2007 students with disabilities, please reference why the student's disability necessitates a fifth year of HS in order to graduate with a regular diploma.

Some applications that have been coming through make no reference at all to a disability, so we have to deny them and ask the district to resubmit. With time being short (April 30 deadline), we want to minimize any unnecessary denials/resubmissions.

Also, if you are considering submitting requests for students with SXI, please remember that these are requests for students expected this summer to earn a regular HS diploma. If your district may award a regular HS diploma to a student with SXI, it will expedite the process for you (your GAD data entry person) to provide a clear comment about the student's ability to meet those requirements. This would also apply to other students with severe disabilities affecting their readiness to meet the requirements for a regular HS diploma in 5 years.

Finally, please keep in mind that this cohort shift is for AYP calculation purposes. The individual students with disabilities who do not graduate in their 5^th year continue to be entitled to receive special education services - and to earn a diploma or certificate in the 6^th, 7^th &..year. 

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

On Behalf Of Schulze, Lori (MDE)

Subject: Procedural Safeguards Notice

This is a notification that the Procedural Safeguards has been updated. This document is based on the federal model provided by the U.S. Department of Education after the reauthorization of the IDEA in 2004 and replaces any earlier versions.

The updated document is available on the OSE-EIS Web site at http://www.michigan.gov/ose-eis.

March 26, 2008

SUBJECT: Notice of availability to participate as pilot site for the implementation of the Autism Spectrum Disorder Workgroup recommendations on screening, assessment and intervention for children ages birth to 6.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot is to implement the recommendations of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Workgroup as approved by the state Human Services- Directors on June 28, 2007 on appropriate screening, assessment and intervention for children with ASD ages birth to 6. The ASD Workgroup recommendations are the result of an extensive review of the research on effective practices for young children with ASD and the input of a variety of stakeholders including:

• Parents of children with ASD
• An adult with ASD
• Advocacy organizations
• University partners
• Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
• Intermediate school districts
• Community Mental Health
• Departments of Community Health, Education, and Human Services

The pilot sites identified from this application process will have the opportunity to implement these research based recommendations and potentially serve as a model for other sites in the state.

• May 5, 2008 Applications due via email followed by mailed signature page.
• May 12, 2008 Selection committee meeting to determine sites.
• May 15, 2008 Letters of acceptance or denial sent.

Project Duration: Pilot to begin October 1, 2008 and will end September 30, 2010.

Informational Phone Conference: The Interdepartmental Team of the ASD Workgroup will be host a phone conference regarding the RFP on April 7, 2008 from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. The call in number is 1-877-873-8017 Access Code: 2232587. Please RSVP to Audrey Craft at crafta@michigan.gov or (517) 241-5763 by April 4, 2008 if you plan to participate.

Application: The application should be e-mailed by May 5 to crafta@michigan.gov. A hard copy of the signature page should be sent to Audrey Craft at the Michigan Department of Community Health, 320 S. Walnut, Lansing, Michigan, 48913. Additionally, the application and relevant ASD Workgroup recommendations are posted on the Workgroup website at www.cenmi.org/asd. If you have any questions regarding the project's purpose or intent, please contact the pilot coordinator, Audrey Craft at crafta@michigan.gov or (517) 241-5763.