Q&A from the Public High Cost Claiming for the 2017-18 Enrollment Year Webinar, Feb. 6, 2019

The table below provides the questions with answers that were asked by participants during the Public High Cost Claiming for the 2017-18 Enrollment Year Webinar held on February 6, 2019.

The presentation slides can be found below:

 

Question Answer
1. Since student classroom counts change throughout the school year, how should districts determine the number of students for a special education classroom? School districts should take the average class size for the period that the student was enrolled in the placement, and then round up to the nearest whole student.
2. If the IEP indicates that a related service should be provided in a small group setting but there aren't enough students requiring the service from the therapist, can districts enter a group size of 1? Yes, however they need to explain the discrepancy in the comments.
3. What should districts do if the start and end dates on a BOCES year-end final cost report don't match the start and end dates for the BOCES program on EFRT? School districts should notify the STAC and Medicaid Unit as soon as possible. We will reach out the BOCES and clear up the issue.
4. Should districts submit claims for "other district" placements if the billed amount is less than the CSE district's threshold? No. Students with 10-month annualized costs below the CSE district's threshold will not generate any High Cost Public aid.
5. Will the DCPOD screen be for all students educated by another district, or only selected students? The DCPOD screen should be completed for all students educated by another district.
6. If the non-resident district has billed using the NRT rate, is the NRT section the only section that needs to be filled out on the DCPOD screen? In cases where the CSE district was billed by the non-resident district using the NRT rate, and the student didn't have any other outside costs, districts will only need to select the appropriate NRT bullet (ages 5-12, use K-6 NRT rate; ages 13-21, use 7-12 NRT rate) in the NRT section of the DCPOD screen.
7. Should districts check the "Verification Completed" checkbox on the DVPUB screen once all in-district claims have been verified, or should they wait until all of the "other district" and BOCES placements have been verified as well? School districts should wait until all in-district, "other district", and BOCES placements have been verified before checking the "Verified Completed" checkbox.
8. What should districts do if the threshold amount on the DVPUB screen doesn't match the threshold amount on line 5 of the Public Excess Cost & Excess Cost Aid Setaside (PUB) Output Report in SAMS? The PUB output reports in SAMS are updated monthly. The threshold amounts in EFRT are updated less frequently. Use the SAMS deduction amount as your reference in cases where the two numbers differ. If the numbers still don't match by mid-June, notify the STAC and Medicaid Unit.
9. Do districts need to exclude costs reimbursed through Medicaid? The costs should not be excluded from high cost STAC reporting.
10. What should districts do if they find any BOCES records flagged as "DCPUB Required"? School districts should notify the STAC and Medicaid Unit. There was a bug in EFRT that caused some BOCES records to be flagged as "DCPUB Required". This bug has since been fixed, but records that got flagged before the fix was implemented may still be incorrectly flagged.
School districts should complete the DCPUB worksheet for all BOCES records with additional costs not included on the BOCES year-end final cost report.
11. Students should only be referenced via STAC ID in emails. Is it okay to include additional student information when submitting information using GoAnywhere? Yes. GoAnywhere is a secure platform for transmitting personally identifiable information (PII).
12. Which cycle should be selected in Section II-B of the DCPUB screen when a student is in a placement every other day (two days one week and three days the following week)? School districts should use the Weekly Cycle, but cut the length of Session Length (Mins) in half, and explain in the comments. The same approach should be taken for placements that are on a 10-day cycle.
13. Can districts add the cost of a 1:1 aide or other IEP services to the NRT rate on the DCPOD screen if the services were provided by someone other then the non-resident district? Yes. If the non-resident district billed using the NRT rate, the CSE district can only claim up to the NRT rate for services provided by the non-resident district. However, they can claim additional services on top of the NRT rate for services provided by the CSE district, a BOCES, or another outside provider.
14. Do districts need to inform anyone when they have uploaded something on GoAnywhere? Yes. If the school district has been communicating with a specific staff member in the STAC and Medicaid Unit, they should email that staff member directly. For submissions not targeted to a specific staff member, school districts should send a notification email to OMSSTAC@nysed.gov. Include the location where the file has been uploaded and the filename in the notification email.
15. If a nurse is required while a student is being transported to and from school, can the cost be included? The cost cannot be claimed for High Cost Public aid. However, the cost of the nurse can be included in your 10-month transportation claim on the ST-3 to State Aid.
16. If the student is enrolled at an SED-approved private provider but receives additional services provided by the BOCES, can those additional BOCES services be claimed? No. If the student is full-time in the private placement, the school district cannot submit a High Cost Public claim. If the student is half-time in the private placement and half-time in a public placement, contact the STAC and Medicaid Unit.
17. What is the maximum allowed number of sessions for related services? The maximum number of sessions for related services is dictated by the student's IEP. If you're having trouble entering a related service on the DCPUB screen, and the information being entered matches the IEP, contact the STAC and Medicaid Unit.
Last Updated: April 22, 2022