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FAPE-Responsible School/District

FAPE-Responsible School: WISEdata

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Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) responsible school fields are required for data submission and should always be completed. The school/district identified as FAPE responsible will be held accountable. The accountable school within the LEA responsible for FAPE references the related School resource for School ID, the identifier assigned to a school by the State Education Agency (SEA).

Any student's Special Education Program Association (sSEPA) in which the FAPE fields are missing should receive an error. DPI expects a sSEPA when the IDEA eligibility = Y. For IDEA eligibility = Y, then FAPE accountability is required.

FAPE responsibility is determined as of a given date to determine who is accountable at that time. As of now, there are three collection dates that look at the FAPE-responsible school for the school year: Third Friday of September, October 1 Child Count, and a Current (present day) value. Later this year, there will also be a Year End collection that will look at the FAPE-responsible school. The FAPE-responsible school is listed in the sSEPA, so if there is only one sSEPA record for the whole school year, each collection will pull that same value for FAPE-responsible school. However, if at any point in the year, a different FAPE-responsible school was documented in a new sSEPA, then whichever value was in effect for the active sSEPA record will be used for the coordinating dates.

USES: FAPE-responsible school/district denotes which school/district should be held accountable for special education students' education.

 

FAQs, Details, and Points to Note

 

  1. Accountability Transfer: When selecting the FAPE-responsible school and district, you cannot transfer accountability within the same district. For example, District A cannot submit enrollment (sSA) for School A and then try to make School B in the same district accountable. You can, however, submit a child as FAPE in a different district. This transfers accountability to the other district. However, the act of paying tuition or having a contract does NOT transfer accountability. Accountability transfer via the FAPE-accountable agency should occur only when the IEP transfers the student to another district for services.
  2. IEP Moves Child to a Different WI School: If the IEP moves a child, then FAPE accountability changes from the attending district back to the resident district. An IEP moving a student is different than a special education student choosing to open enroll in another school. In this case, the school of open enrollment will be FAPE accountable and will generate the IEP (usually still working with the resident district).

  3. Discipline Removals: All students are federally entitled to a free, appropriate, public education (FAPE) as protected by article X, section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution, and §121.77, so the nuances of suspensions, expulsions, the time they require students to be away from FAPE are important to get right. This PDF provides details on which LEA is responsible for providing FAPE under different scenarios. More information can be found on the Discipline: Info, Help and FAQs page.

  4. Accountability Scenarios:

    1. If a student resides in Resident District A and receives services in the same district, then Resident District A submits a) the enrollment record and b) the sSEPA record. They identify the school in the sSA as the FAPE Responsible School ID.

    2. If a student resides in Resident District A but receives special education services in accordance with an IEP/ISP in Placed District B, then:

      • Placed District B:

        • submits the enrollment record and the sSEPA record

        • identifies a school within Resident District A as the FAPE Responsible School.

      • Resident District A should not do any reporting at all for the student.

      • If a student is in Placed District B but FAPE responsibility is given back to Resident District A, then:

        • Placed District B will show the student as countable in WISEdata for both October 1 Child Count and 3rd Friday of September.

        • Resident District A will see the student in their October 1 count in WISEdash for Districts.

    3. Student resides in another state and is crossing the border to receive primary and special education services in a Wisconsin district. The records are submitted by the WI district as if he or she is a resident of the district for both a) SSA and b) sSEPA record. The FAPE Responsible School ID will be within the WI district.

    4. If a student is a WI resident and his or her IEP places the student in a school in another state, the data could be reported as in the first scenario.

    5. If a student resides in Resident District A but is open enrolled in Chosen District B and receives special education services in Chosen District B, then Chosen District B submits a) enrollment and b) sSEPA record. The FAPE Responsible School ID will be a school within Chosen District B. The resident district will be Resident District A.

    6. If a student resides in Resident District A and is open enrolled in Chosen District B but receives special education services in Resident District A, then Chosen District B submits a) the enrollment record and b) the sSEPA record, and the FAPE Responsible School ID within the record would be a school in Chosen District B. The resident district in this case will be Resident District A.

    7. If a student is open enrolled in Chosen District A and resides in Resident District B and receives Special Education services in District C, then Chosen District A submits a) the enrollment record and b) the sSEPA record, and the FAPE Responsible School ID within the record would be a school in Chosen District A. The resident district in this case will be Resident District B.

    8. If a student with a disability was placed by a court in a Residential Care Center (RCC) receiving primary educational services on grounds within the boundaries of District A while the family resides in District B and the family moves to now reside in District C, then District B submits the enrollment record and sSEPA record and identifies a school in District B as the FAPE-responsible school. 

    9. If a student with a disability was placed by a court in a Residential Care Center (RCC) receiving primary educational services on grounds within the boundaries of District A while the family resided in District B and the child was in DOC or DHS at the time of placement, then District A submits the enrollment record and sSEPA record and identifies a school in District A as the FAPE-responsible school.

    10. If a student with a disability was placed by a parent or guardian in a Residential Care Center (RCC) receiving primary educational services on grounds within the boundaries of District A, then this student is a private school student. If District A has an ISP, then District A submits the enrollment record and sSEPA record and identifies a school in District A as the FAPE-responsible school.

  5. Validation 6633: Validation Error 6633 uses the student's enrolled school (sSA) in its logic,  except if the FAPE Accountable school or district is set. Then the logic looks at that agency's/school's valid grade range as reported to DPI. Work in the School Directory application to modify available grade levels.

See also:

FAPE responsibility guide

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