From: DPI Open Enrollment Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2019 1:53 PM To: Demrow, Jennifer DPI Subject: OE SPED Actual Costs Emergency Rule, Q&A Document and Financial Statement To – District Administrators and Open Enrollment Coordinators From – Jen Demrow, Open Enrollment Consultant Subject – OE SPED Actual Costs Q&A Document and Financial Statement 2017 Wisconsin Act 59 (2017-19 Budget) included changes related to open enrollment. Starting in the 2019-20 school year, for pupils who are open enrolled for the second or subsequent year, the open enrollment payment for a student receiving special education services could be either the per pupil payment amount under the indexing method or the special education actual costs to the nonresident district, up to $30,000, if the nonresident school district had submitted to the Department a financial statement indicating the special education actual cost to the school district of providing a free and appropriate education (FAPE) to the pupil in the previous school year. As a result of these changes, the Department recently issued revisions to Wis. Admin. Code § PI 36. The emergency rule provides clarification on open enrollment aid payments related to the new special education actual costs financial statement and provides guidance on the financial statement itself. Districts that wish to use the actual cost option must submit a financial statement to the Department between the first weekday in August and the last weekday in September. The emergency rule with these revisions was effective on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. You will be able to review the emergency rule text and a plain language analysis of the emergency rule on the Wisconsin State Legislature website at http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/emergency_rules/all/emr1910. The Department will have a hearing to accept public testimony on the PI 36 changes in the emergency rule and proposed permanent rule in the near future. Additional information on the hearing can be accessed at https://dpi.wi.gov/policy-budget/adminstrative-rules/proposed-rule once it becomes available. Please note that the purpose of this hearing will be to accept public testimony only. The Open Enrollment team, along with the School Finance and Special Education teams, have developed a Q&A document – Open Enrollment Actual Costs for Pupils with Disabilities and an Open Enrollment Financial Statement for Special Education Actual Costs, which districts can use to submit their information to us. The financial statement will be available for nonresident school districts to complete via OPAL (the open enrollment database) beginning on August 1, 2019. Below is the Q&A document and a sample example of the financial statement: We are currently working on step-by-step instructions on how to complete a pupil’s financial statement in OPAL. Once this information is available, we will send out an additional list serv notice. Below is the initial timeline for nonresident districts to enter, edit, or withdraw a pupil’s financial statement: * August 1, 2019 SPED Actual Cost Financial Statement available in OPAL * September 30, 2019 Deadline for Nonresident Districts to Enter, Edit, or Withdraw a SPED Actual Cost Financial Statement * October 14, 2019 Deadline for DPI to Withdraw a SPED Actual Cost Financial Statement on behalf of a Nonresident District If you have any questions, please contact us at 888-245-2732, option 2 or openenrollment@dpi.wi.gov. Jen Demrow School Administration Consultant Public School Open Enrollment Department of Public Instruction 608-264-6707 or 888-245-2732, option 2, then 3 Jennifer.Demrow@dpi.wi.gov