Claiming Public High Cost Aid for Students Educated by Another District
In some instances, another nearby school district may offer a special education placement that is more appropriate for a student than the placement options available in the student's home district. In these cases, the Committee on Special Education (CSE) will recommend that the student be educated at this non-resident school district. Students educated by a non-resident district may be eligible for public high cost claiming, however the process is a bit different than the process for students educated by the student's home school district.
Verification for these “other district” placements opens later than verification for in-district placements because the State Aid Office must first make available the Actual Nonresident Tuition Report for Prior Year (NRT) as a SAMS State Aid Output Report.
The educating district may bill the CSE district based on a child-specific non-resident student cost calculation, but only if it calculates child-specific bills for every nonresident student. Otherwise, the educating district must bill for all nonresident students based on the actual “Non-Resident Tuition” NRT rates posted on SAMS. The NRT rates are average cost calculations which include all special education costs for 1:1 aides and related services, so the other educating district may not include additional charges, if it is billing based on the posted NRT rates.
School districts must complete the High Cost Worksheet for all students educated by another district. For instructions on how to utilize the DCPOD High Cost Worksheet (Other District) online screen, please review the EFRT User Guide linked below:
Nonresident Tuition
When districts enter into a cross-contract agreement, it is recommended that the educating district document the child-specific costs for each child and bill accordingly. While the education district can bill for all costs included in the contract agreement, only the portion of those costs which are for direct special education services will be eligible for STAC reimbursement.
Where districts are unable to calculate child-specific costs, they may use the nonresident tuition (NRT) rates posted on SAMS for their inter-district billings. Actual NRT rates for the prior enrollment year and estimated NRT rates for the current school year are posted on the State Aid website each year around mid-November when the current-year State Aid Output Reports are released.
Please be aware that:
- If the educating district has billed using the NRT rate, the STAC and Medicaid Unit will reimburse based on the actual NRT rate for prior year, which may be higher or lower than the estimated NRT rate for current year. Districts may want to include some sort of billing reconciliation process in their cross-contract agreements, since the actual NRT rates for the prior school year come out in the following autumn.
- If the educating district has billed using the NRT rate, reimbursement for services provided by the educating district will be capped at the NRT rate.