FY2024 Special Education Circuit Breaker Relief Reimbursements
Circuit Breaker Program provides financial assistance to public school districts for high-cost special education services, with relief claims reimbursed for current year expenses and year-end claims reimbursed for prior year expenses. Reserve Relief supports districts with significant instructional cost increases. Claiming eligibility for services provided during FY24 is based on specific criteria, with varying reimbursement targets. Legal references and funding provisions guide the process.
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FY2024 Special Education Circuit Breaker Relief Reimbursements: Extraordinary and Reserve Relief Office of District & School Finance May 2, 2024 1
Circuit Breaker Program Commonwealth s Special Education Reimbursement Program ( Circuit Breaker ) Provides annual financial assistance to public school districts Supports delivery of high cost special education services to students age 3 through 21 Annual Claim Cycle: Relief claims: reimburse for current year instruction/tuition expenses (Net Claim in FY24 claim file) (districts filed in March 2024, will be reimbursed in May 2024) Year-End claims: reimburse for prior year instruction/tuition and transportation expenses (districts file in July 2024, will be reimbursed quarterly during FY25) Legal References: School Finance Regulations 603 CMR 10.07 Mass General Law Chapter 71B section 5A RESERVE RELIEF: Session Law, Acts of 2023 item 1599-0012 2
Reserve Relief Language 1599-0012 school districts pursuant to section 5A of chapter 71B of the General Laws and item 7061-0012; provided, that funds shall be made available for reimbursements in fiscal year 2024 to school districts that experience increases to instructional costs reimbursable under said section 5A of said chapter 71B and incurred such instructional costs during fiscal year 2024 that exceed 25 per cent of such instructional costs incurred during fiscal year 2023; provided further, that funds shall also be made available to reimburse districts in fiscal year 2024 for 100 per cent of any such instructional cost increases exceeding 7.5 per cent where the total of such increase also exceeds 0.5 per cent of total actual net school spending in fiscal year 2023; provided further, that funds paid from this provision in fiscal year 2024 shall not be reimbursable in fiscal year 2025; For a reserve to support reimbursements for extraordinary relief to 3
Circuit Breaker Claiming Eligibility For services provided during FY24 (July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024) Circuit Breaker Program Claims Filed by Districts Eligibility Reimbursement Categories and Amounts Tuition & instruction only 75% reimbursement target (subject to appropriation) for expenses over eligibility threshold Extraordinary Relief districts with net eligible FY24 tuition & instructional expenditures that are: tuition/instructional 25%+ higher than in FY23 Filed March 2024 for services provided and anticipated through June 30, 2024 Tuition & instruction only 100% reimbursement target (subject to appropriation) for expenses over eligibility threshold Reserve Relief districts with net eligible FY24 tuition & instructional expenditures that are: 7.5%+ higher than in prior year and Increase = an amount > 0.5% of FY23 NSS Tuition & instruction and out-of- district transportation 75% reimbursement target (subject to appropriation) for expenses over eligibility threshold Final Year End Reimbursements Filed July 2024 for services provided through June 30, 2024 All districts with financial responsibility for student(s) with services that meet or exceed the high cost threshold 4
FY24 Relief Budgets & Reimbursements $80,000,000 $75,000,000 $70,000,000 Relief Funding Available $60,000,000 Reimbursement Due $50,000,000 $40,000,000 $34,107,537 $30,000,000 $27,824,645 $20,000,000 $20,670,988 $10,000,000 $- Extraordinary Relief Reserve Relief 5
FY24 Reimbursements Line Items $80,000,000 $75,000,000 $70,000,000 Relief Funding Available $60,000,000 Reimbursement paid through Circuit Breaker line item $50,000,000 $40,000,000 $6,282,892 $30,000,000 Reimbursement paid through Reserve Relief line item $27,824,645 $27,824,645 $20,000,000 $20,670,988 $10,000,000 $- Extraordinary Relief Reserve Relief 6
Circuit Breaker Reimbursements Expenditure Timing FY24 Relief Reimbursement Category FY24 Relief Payment Impact to FY25 Circuit Breaker Reimbursements (1) May 2024 None Extraordinary Relief paid through the Circuit Breaker line item Must be spent in current fiscal year; spend by June 30, 2024 May 2024 Extraordinary Relief paid through Reserve Relief line item FY24 reimbursements paid in this category are deducted from FY25 reimbursements May carry forward one fiscal year; must be spent by June 30, 2025 May 2024 Reserve Relief paid through Reserve Relief line item FY24 reimbursements paid in this category are deducted from FY25 reimbursements May carry forward one fiscal year; must be spent by June 30, 2025 (1) Final Circuit Breaker reimbursements are paid quarterly during FY25 to reimburse districts for expenses incurred during FY24 and submitted in a year-end claim in July 2024. 7
Reimbursement Notes Preliminary Reimbursement Amounts Posted to the DESE website here: https://www.doe.mass.edu/finance/circuitbreaker/materials-tools/relief-reimbursement-eligible.xlsx Categories in posting include: Extraordinary Relief reimbursement due through Circuit Breaker line item Extraordinary Relief reimbursement due through Reserve Relief line item Reserve Relief reimbursement due through Reserve Relief line item Percent claim increase from FY23 to FY24 (eligibility threshold is 25%) If your FY24 costs decrease between Relief and Year-End claims, it could negatively impact reimbursements, including impacting Relief eligibility Districts on the cusp of Relief eligibility are indicated in the online posting with an asterisk 8
Option to Defer Reserve Relief Line Item Payments (slide 1 of 2) Districts can choose NOT to receive reimbursements paid through the Reserve Relief line item. Options (can CHOOSE ONLY ONE): Opt-out of all reimbursement payments from the reserve relief line item Opt-out only from payments from reserve relief line item due through FY24 Reserve Relief Opt-out only from payments from reserve relief line item due through FY24 Extraordinary Relief Effectively pushes those Relief reimbursements from single May 2024 payment to Year-End reimbursement payments quarterly during FY25 May 2024 payments through reserve relief line item need to be expended by June 30, 2025 Quarterly FY25 Year-End payments need to be expended by June 30, 2026 9
Option to Defer Reserve Relief Line Item Payments (slide 2 of 2) To forego May 2024 payment through reserve relief line item: Print, fill out, and sign form found here: https://www.doe.mass.edu/finance/circuitbreaker/materials-tools/relief-opt-out.pdf Return PDF copy via email to circuitbreaker@mass.gov by Thursday, May 9th circuitbreaker@mass.gov There is no option to forego Extraordinary Relief reimbursement payments made through the Circuit Breaker line item ( use it or lose it ) 10
Questions? Please type questions into the Q&A portion of Zoom (not chat) 11
Upcoming Dates Deadline to defer Reserve Relief: Thursday, May 9, 2024 FY24 Year-End claims due: Monday, July 15, 2024 Claim files will be available by early June Training will be held during May and June, with schedule emailed to the Circuit Breaker listserv (doe-cb@listserv.state.ma.us) For assistance, contact the circuit breaker liaison assigned to your district: https://www.doe.mass.edu/finance/circuitbreaker/liaison.html 12
Thank You 13 13
