Welcome to the STAC and Special Aids Unit
STAC and Special Aids is the unit within the NYS Education Department responsible for processing requests for Commissioner's approval for reimbursement. This includes reimbursement approval for the costs of providing services to preschool and school-age students placed in special education programs. It also includes reimbursement approval for students who have been determined to be homeless or runaway youth and for education services provided to incarcerated youth.
Latest News
12-06-2013
The Office of Mental Health (OMH) version of form STAC-200 (Notice of Other
Agency Placements for Children with Disabilities) has been updated. Please use
this version for all future submissions. The new version can be filled out
digitally and then printed and signed for submission. Entering text in a
field on any copy of the form will automatically update the equivalent field
on the other four copies. The new version is available from
the Forms page of the STAC
website.
As a reminder, Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) placements should
instead use form DSS-3424 (School District Notification of Financial
Responsibility for Educationally Handicapped Foster Child Placed in a Child
Care Institution).
OMH STAC-200 
(121 kb)
12-04-2013
Gold Star - Online Verification Status Report
(Updated December 3, 2013 -- Next Update January 3, 2014)
11-13-2013
CPSE 2011-12 Administrative Costs
Districts were notified in a letter dated November 1st of preliminary estimates for 2011-12 Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) costs approved for reimbursement. Please note that revisions for reported costs must be submitted by November 27, 2013 to the STAC Unit to be included in the final cost listing to be issued in December.
A corrected letter with this deadline has been sent this week to the State Aid contact for each school district. Please contact Jim DeMeo at 518-474-7116 or JDEMEO@mail.nysed,gov for further information, or to request hard copy forms for submission of revised CPSE administrative costs.
11-13-2013
Reminder Notice-Private Placement Certification Process
On July 31, 2013 the STAC unit released the 2013-14 Certification Process (DCERT) for all Private Placements. This certification process replaces the DOSES process. Please review your 2013-14 Private Placement students. Beginning with Summer of 2013-14, all summer and 10-month Private Placements now require a certification prior to getting the approval on the STAC online system.
In order to obtain a timely determination of approval for state reimbursement, the certification must have a certification date not later than six business days of the student’s start date. As of December 1, 2013 this six business day window will be strictly enforced. If the district fails to submit/process a timely certification, State reimbursement shall commence on the date that the certification is processed on the STAC online system.
Below is a link to the Field Advisory Memorandum from the Office of Special Education:
Private
Placement Certification Field Advisory Memo
Below is a link to the "Guide to Online Entry of Private Placement Certifications":
Private Placement Certification Guide
Please contact Anne Wolfgang or Maureen McCarthy if you have any questions about the certification process.
11-04-2013
Gold Star - Online Verification Status Report
(Updated November 1, 2013 -- Next Update December 4, 2013)
10-28-2013
To expedite the processing of requests for program date changes on the STAC Online System, a new form has been
introduced. The new form can be filled out digitally and then printed and faxed to the STAC Unit at 518-402-5047
for processing, generally within one business day.
Request for EFRT Program Date Changes Form
(345 kb)
10-17-2013
The most recent version of the JAVA Plug-In automatically assumes that potentially unsafe components should
be blocked. As a result, the most recent version of JAVA is not compatible with the EFRT Presentation Client.
Some districts, counties and providers are now receiving a SecurityException error when they try to log into the EFRT client. This is triggered by the latest version of JAVA.
If you are trying to log onto EFRT and are receiving this error, please follow the SecurityException
instructions at the bottom of the following link:
STAC Online System - Problems & Solutions Using
the STAC GUI Screens
10-01-2013
A field memo clarifying when a school district can receive additional state aid for the cost of educating a
student in temporary housing has been posted on our
Chapter 348 Nonresident and Runaway
Homeless page.
09-09-2013
Private Placement Certification reminder (DCERT)
Now that the 2013-14 school year has begun, please remember to process all 2013-14 district Private Placement certifications on the DCERT screen.
As per the July 2013 SPECIAL EDUCATION OFFICE’S FIELD ADVISORY regarding State Reimbursement for Placement of Students with Disabilities in Approved Private School In-State and Out-of-State Day and Residential School Placements(Private Placement Certification Field Advisory Memo):
“In order to obtain a timely determination of approval of State reimbursement, the preapproval Certification must have a “Certification Date” stamp not later than six business days of the student’s start date in the program. If the school district fails to submit a timely application, State reimbursement will commence on the “Certification Date” as determined by NYSED’s STAC Online System. NYSED will no longer back date approvals so it is imperative that school districts ensure that the certification forms for each student are processed in a timely manner.”
08-12-2013
Selected STAC Online Verification Deadline Extension-extended through 09-15-2013
Below is the link to a memorandum regarding Selected STAC Online Verification Extensions
Verification Deadline Extension Memo
07-31-2013
2013-14 Reapplications for both Summer and School Year placements are now available on the STAC Online System (2-Month Summer Reapplications- DRSUM screen; 10-month Private Reapplications- DRPRV screen).
A Private Placement Certification pre- approval will be required for all Private 2 and 10-month STAC reimbursements. This Private Placement Certification process replaces the DOSES pre-approval process.
NOTE: Due to the timing of the release of this revised process, Private Placement Certification Pre-approvals will not be required for Summer 2013 Private STAC reimbursement approvals.
07-31-2013
Private Placement Certification Process
Below is a link to the Field Advisory Memorandum from the Office of Special Education:
Private Placement Certification Field Advisory Memo
Below is a link to the "Guide to Online Entry of Private Placement Certifications":
Private Placement Certification Guide
06-11-2013
The Summer 4408 Related Services On-Line Verification Screen (DVSRL) is now available for summer 2011 and summer 2012.
Summer 4408 Related Services Transportation On-Line Verification Screen (DVST2) is also now available for the summers of 2011 and 2012.
06-05-2013
New process for resolving child identification issues on files submitted via FTP
Some counties submit batch service and eval files via FTP. When the STAC Unit receives a file for processing,
there are sometimes certain issues related to child identification that must be resolved before further
processing of the file can proceed. In June 2013, the STAC Unit instituted a new more secure process for
counties to resolve these issues. The page linked below has instructions and a quick reference chart for this
new process:
Resolving Child Identification Issues by Excel Spreadsheet
06-04-2013
Below is a link to the memorandum regarding upcoming June 30, 2013 STAC Deadlines. June 30, 2013 STAC Deadline Memo (61 kb)
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