Public Excess Cost Information
Under Section 3602 of NY State Education Law, the CSE responsible district may file a Request for Reimbursement Approval for school-age special education students who attend district or BOCES programs and who have an annualized special education cost that meets or exceeds their district threshold dollar amount.
Terms and Definitions
10-Month Annualized Cost
The amount the student’s special education services would have cost if provided for all 10 months, based on the lesser of the student’s IEP-mandated level of services or the actual level of services provided.
District Threshold
The annualized cost that must be exceeded to generate State aid for High Cost Public placements. (Line 5 on PUB report)
Public Excess Cost Aid Ratio
The percentage of aid generated on costs exceeding the district threshold. (Line 4 on PUB report)
Request for Reimbursement Approval
First Step: Submit a request for STAC reimbursement approval
School districts should submit a request for STAC reimbursement approval online for any special education student whose 10-Month Annualized Cost exceeds the CSE district's threshold.
For students where a High Cost Public record for the concluding school year was entered prior to April 1, the student's placement can be reapplied for the new school year by the CSE district on the DRPUB screen. If the school year has not yet concluded, districts should use a reasonable estimate for the 10-Month Annualized Cost.
For more information, please review the following:
For the remaining students, the request for STAC reimbursement approval must be manually entered by the CSE district on the DSPUB screen.
For more information, please review the following:
Second Step: Calculate Costs
Unlike private placements and summer placements, 10-month reimbursement for public placements is based on actual costs. Once the school year concludes, school districts need to calculate the 10-Month Annualized Cost for each student by aggregating all of the student's component costs.
The STAC Online (EFRT) System includes two high cost worksheets to aid and document the calculation of 10-Month Annualized Costs for each record. The worksheets can be accessed by bringing up the service approval on the DSPUB screen and clicking the "GO TO DCPUB/DCPOD" button
The DCPUB high cost worksheet should be completed for students educated by the CSE district and students educated by a BOCES who received additional services not provided by the BOCES.
For more information, please review the following:
The DCPOD high cost worksheet should be completed by the CSE district for students educated by another school district with which it has a cross-contract.
For more information, please review the following:
Third Step: Online Verification
Public excess cost aid is generated to the CSE district for direct special education services
that are verified on the STAC online verification screen (DVPUB). Aid for current year is
based on the prior school year's enrollment.
Example: For the 2018-19 school year you receive aid on the 2017-18 enrollment year.
Verification opens in three phases:
- In-District:
In-district claims open for verification between mid-September and early October. - Other District:
Other district claims open for verification once the current year State Aid Output Reports are released in late November or early December. - BOCES:
BOCES claims open for verification once all of the BOCES have mailed out their year-end final cost reports. Usually mid- to late-February.
In-district, other district, and BOCES claims must all be verified on the DVPUB screen to be eligible for reimbursement. To permit time for review, the STAC and Medicaid Unit usually sets a deadline in mid-April.
For more information, please review the following:
Claiming for Students Educated by Another District or BOCES
Information about the claiming process for “Other District” placements can be found at:
Information about the claiming process for BOCES placements can be found at:
State Aid formula used to calculate Public High Cost Apportionment Aid
(Example: Student with an $80,000 rate who was enrolled for part of the 2019-20 enrollment year with a 0.600 FTE)
| $80,000 | Annualized Cost ($48,000 BOCES Cost / 0.600 FTE) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| - | $40,000 | Deduction Amount * | (2020-21 PUB Line 5) |
| $40,000 | Annualized Excess Aidable Cost | ||
| × | 0.600 | Student FTE | |
| $24,000 | Aidable Excess Cost | ||
| × | 0.490 | Public Excess Cost Aid Ratio | (2020-21 PUB Line 4) |
| $11,760 | Public High Cost Apportionment Aid |
* Deduction Amount is the District Threshold, 3 × Approved Operating Expense Per Pupil
Reimbursement Timetable
Public High Cost Excess Cost aid is distributed to school districts pursuant to the excess cost aid payment schedule specified in §3609-b of the State Education Law:| Payment | Percentage | Funding | Based On | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December | 25% | Current Year | Approval Data | On or before December 15th |
| March | additional 45% | Current Year | Approval Data | On or before March 15th |
| June | additional 15% | Current Year | Approval Data | On or before June 15th |
| August | additional 15% | Current Year | Verified Data | On or before June 15th |
| Deferred (September) |
Any remaining | Current Year | Verified Data | First state business day of September |
Prior Year Claims
State aid payments due for prior years are paid within the limit of the designated appropriation, with the queue paid out in the order that the claims were been approved for payment by SED.More information about the prior year claiming process can be found at:
Correspondence:
- EFH277 Student Listings for 2021 Approvals Memo (HTML) (PDF)
- EFH277 Student Listings for 1920 Verified Approvals Memo (HTML) (PDF)
- 2020-21 DVPUB February 2022 Memo (HTML) (PDF)
- 2020-21 DVPUB September 2021 Memo (HTML) (PDF)
- 2019-20 DVPUB April 2021 Memo (HTML) (PDF)
- 2019-20 DVPUB January 2021 Memo (HTML) (PDF)