Q&A from the Public High Cost Claiming for the 2017-18 Enrollment Year Webinar, Oct. 17, 2018

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 October 17, 2018.

The presentation slides can be found below:

 

Question Answer
1. In Section II-B of the DCPUB screen, how should districts calculate the Teacher Work Day? It only says exclude lunch. Should administrative periods also be excluded? The Teacher Work Day should include the full day that the teacher is contracted for, excluding lunch.
2. In Section II-B of the DCPUB screen, what should districts select as the Placement Type? Districts should select the placement type that most closely aligns with how the placement is listed on the student's IEP.
3. In Section II-B of the DCPUB screen, how should non-standard cycle lengths be handled? Handle non-standard cycles as follows:
  • 2-Day Cycle: use Daily Cycle, halve the session length in minutes, note in comments
  • 8-Day Cycle: use 4-Day Cycle, halve the session length in minutes, note in comments
  • 10-Day Cycle: use Weekly Cycle, halve the session length in minutes, note in comments
4. In Section II-B of the DCPUB screen, is there a way to include the teacher's class preparation time? Yes. Include the class preparation time in the Session Length (Mins). If the session length differs from the IEP as a result of the class preparation time, explain in comments.
5. If an elementary school student is in a co-teaching setting and the teacher is the same for the whole day, is it better to utilize Section II-A or Section II-B of the DCPUB screen? Either is acceptable. If Section II-A is utilized, make sure general education costs are excluded, and make sure the Actual Students in Class reflects special education students only.
6. If assistive technology was purchased for a student during a prior school year and wasn't included in the High Cost Public submission for that school year, can it be claimed on a subsequent school year?

No. Assistive technology must be required by the student's IEP and claimed during the same 10-month period in which it was purchased in order to qualify for public excess cost aid. Assistive technology purchased when the student was preschool age, and assistive technology purchased during the summer is also excluded.

If the assistive technology was purchased during the 10-month period of a prior school year that is still open for verification, it may be claimed on that year's record. The reimbursement will be handled as a prior year claim.

7. If a student's placement changes throughout the school year, should there be a new STAC record for each change in placement? Yes. There should be multiple STAC records, and each record should be annualized. The only exception is for BOCES placements with no additional services. They should be STACed in accordance with the summary-level year-end final cost reports.
8. In Section IV of the DCPUB screen, how do you calculate the Total Cost Per Session for related service providers? For BOCES and Other Providers, the session cost should be listed on the invoices.
For district employees, use this formula:
(Salary + Fringe) / # of school days = daily rate
Daily rate / Teacher day in minutes, excluding lunch = per minute rate
Per minute rate x Length of Session (Mins) = Total Cost Per Session
9. Will e-mail reminders be sent out? When the in-district and BOCES placements are available for verification, an announcement will be posted on the STAC homepage and sent out via ListServ. If you haven't already registered for the School Age ListServ, click here for instructions.
10. Does the DSPUB screen still need to be completed? Yes. A DSPUB record must exist in order for the DCPUB high cost student worksheet to be utilized.
11. What if other public schools bill using Nonresident Tuition (NRT) rates? If the "other district" placements are billed using NRT rates, the 10-month annualized cost is capped at the educating district's NRT rate. For 1718 enrollment, the NRT rates from the 2018-2019 - Actual Nonresident Tuition Report for Prior Year (NRT) will be utilized. The NRT rates should be available on SAMS when the 2018-19 State Aid Output Reports are released in late November or early December.
12. Will GoAnywhere automatically generate email notifications when a file has been uploaded? No. When backup documentation is submitted to the STAC and Medicaid Unit using GoAnywhere, an email needs to be manually sent to the assigned reviewer with the filename of the uploaded document.
13. In Section IV of the DCPUB screen, should the number of Actual Sessions be annualized if a student was only enrolled for part of the year? School districts must annualize the number of sessions in accordance with the IEP.

Example: If the student’s IEP calls for the student to receive Counseling three times a week, the district can claim up to 120 sessions.

However, school districts should annualize based on the services actually provided during the period the student did attend, if those services were less than the IEP level.

Example: The student attended for 8 weeks, and his or her IEP called for Counseling from an outside provider 3 times a week. The invoices indicate only 19 sessions were provided. Take 19 sessions, divide by the 8 weeks the student received services, and then multiply by 40 weeks. The school district would report 95 annualized sessions in the Actual Sessions box in section IV of DCPUB.
14. In Section IV of the DCPUB screen, can 40 weeks be used as the multiplier when calculating the number of sessions? If the student's IEP calls for sessions to be provided weekly, 40 weeks can be used as the multiplier unless the number of sessions per week is a multiple of 5. In that case, the placement should be treated as if it were daily (5x weekly treated as 1x daily, 10x weekly treated as 2x daily, etc.).
15. How do district log out of EFRT? Type "BYE" (without the quotes) in the Go to box and hit Enter on the keyboard.
16. Can the costs for a 1:1 nurse traveling with a student on the bus to and from school be claimed on STAC? No. The transportation costs for nurses riding with students on the bus to and from school must be claimed as a transportation cost on your ST-3 submitted to State Aid.
Last Updated: June 21, 2022