High Cost Special Education Aid

Overview

High Cost Special Education Aid (HCSE) provides additional support for school districts and other eligible LEAs serving students with disabilities that are significant and costly. Agencies apply for partial reimbursement of the costs for individual students in the previous fiscal year.

This program provides additional special education aid to Wisconsin school districts, independent charter schools (ICS'), Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs) or County Children with Disability Education Boards (CCDEBs). An LEA is eligible if a student with disabilities has actual, additional, non-administrative costs of special education and related services in excess of $30,000. Some reimbursements are excluded. High Cost Special Education Aid is administered under s. 115.881, Wis. Stats., and PI 30, Wis. Admin. Code.

Eligible Costs

Eligible costs are defined in the program guidance document.

Application Process

Application process instructions. Instructions for accessing the application.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Review our list of frequently asked questions for 2024.

WISEid Troubleshooting

LEAs must be in agreement with FAPE responsibility and enrollment reporting. Please be sure to communicate with your partnering LEA to resolve any conflicts and see this webpage for common issues and resolutions.

Open an online WISEdata help ticket.

The next reporting period opens in January of 2025.

High-Cost Special Education Presentation Slide Decks(click here to expand)

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1. High-Cost Special Education WiSFiP Access

2. High-Cost Special Education Introduction to Costs

3. High-Cost Special Education Student-Specific or Program Cost

4. High-Cost Special Education Equipment Costs

5. High-Cost Special Education Child Specific Data Entry

6. High-Cost Special Education Specified Services and Claim Summary

WASBO Accounting Conference 2024 High-Cost Special Education Presentation

Funding

High-Cost Special Education Aid is a sum-certain appropriation in the state's biennial budget. The 2024-25 high-cost appropriation is $14,480,000.

Payment Details

FY2023-24 claims for FY2022-23 eligible costs were due on March 11, 2024. The FY2023-24 high cost appropriation was $13,032,000. The average reimbursement rate in 2023-24 for LEAs was 24.23% of each student's eligible costs above $30,000. The HCSE aid payment is made on the third Monday in June. Revenue is coded to Fund 27, source 625.

Annual Claims(click here to expand)