An Act To Establish a Special Education Circuit Breaker Reimbursement Program
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §15689, sub-§16 is enacted to read:
(1) Include an estimate of a student's special education costs that the school administrative unit expects to be eligible for reimbursement under this program in the school administrative unit's school budget document prepared pursuant to section 15693;
(2) Annually report special education costs eligible for reimbursement under this subsection to the department for each eligible student on forms provided by the department; and
(3) Notify the department within 30 days of any change in previously approved special education costs, including but not limited to any changes in a student's enrollment status or individual education plan.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the special education circuit breaker reimbursement program, in which the Department of Education reimburses school administrative units, for a student whose eligible special education costs exceed 4 times the statewide EPS per-pupil rate, 75% of the amount of the special education costs that are above 4 times the statewide EPS per-pupil rate. The bill requires the department to distribute reimbursements to eligible school administrative units on a quarterly basis, and the reimbursements must be deposited in a separate revolving account that may be spent only on approved special education services.