Except as otherwise provided, amounts provided to an LEA under Part B of the Act may be used only to pay the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. Excess costs are those costs for the education of an elementary school or secondary school student with a disability that are in excess of the average annual per student expenditure in an LEA during the preceding school year for an elementary school or secondary school student, as may be appropriate. An LEA must spend at least the average annual per student expenditure on the education of an elementary school or secondary school child with a disability before funds under Part B of the Act are used to pay the excess costs of providing special education and related services.
Section 602(8) of the Act and § 300.16 require the LEA to compute the minimum average amount separately for children with disabilities in its elementary schools and for children with disabilities in its secondary schools. LEAs may not compute the minimum average amount it must spend on the education of children with disabilities based on a combination of the enrollments in its elementary schools and secondary schools.
The following example shows how to compute the minimum average amount an LEA must spend for the education of each of its elementary school children with disabilities under section 602(3) of the Act before it may use funds under Part B of the Act.
a. First the LEA must determine the total amount of its expenditures for elementary school students from all sources—local, State, and Federal (including Part B)—in the preceding school year. Only capital outlay and debt services are excluded.
Example:The following is an example of a computation for children with disabilities enrolled in an LEA's elementary schools. In this example, the LEA had an average elementary school enrollment for the preceding school year of 800 (including 100 children with disabilities). The LEA spent the following amounts last year for elementary school students (including its elementary school children with disabilities):
| (1) | From State and local tax funds | $6,500,000
|
| (2) | From Federal funds | 600,000
|
| | Total expenditures | 7,100,000 |
| (1) | Total Expenditures | $7,100,000
|
| (2) | Less capital outlay and debt | −60,000
|
| | Total expenditures for elementary school students less capital outlay and debt | $7,040,000 |
b. Next, the LEA must subtract from the total expenditures amounts spent for:
(1) IDEA, Part B allocation,
(2) ESEA, Title I, Part A allocation,
(3) ESEA, Title III, Parts A and B allocation,
(4) State and local funds for children with disabilities, and
(5) State or local funds for programs under ESEA, Title I, Part A, and Title III, Parts A and B.
These are funds that the LEA actually spent, not funds received last year but carried over for the current school year.
Example:The LEA spent the following amounts for elementary school students last year:
| (1) | From funds under IDEA, Part B allocation | $ 200,000
|
| (2) | From funds under ESEA, Title I, Part A allocation | 250,000
|
| (3) | From funds under ESEA, Title III, Parts A and B allocation | 50,000
|
| (4) | From State funds and local funds for children with disabilities | 500,000
|
| (5) | From State and local funds for programs under ESEA, Title I, Part A, and Title III, Parts A and B | 150,000
|
| | Total | 1,150,000
|
| (1) | Total expenditures less capital outlay and debt | 7,040,000
|
| (2) | Other deductions | −1,150,000
|
| Total | $5,890,000 |
c. Except as otherwise provided, the LEA next must determine the average annual per student expenditure for its elementary schools dividing the average number of students enrolled in the elementary schools of the agency during the preceding year (including its children with disabilities) into the amount computed under the above paragraph. The amount obtained through this computation is the minimum amount the LEA must spend (on the average) for the education of each of its elementary school children with disabilities. Funds under Part B of the Act may be used only for costs over and above this minimum.
| (1) | Amount from Step b | $5,890,000
|
| (2) | Average number of students enrolled | 800
|
| (3) | $5,890,000/800 Average annual per student expenditure | $ 7,362 |
d. Except as otherwise provided, to determine the total minimum amount of funds the LEA must spend for the education of its elementary school children with disabilities in the LEA (not including capital outlay and debt service), the LEA must multiply the number of elementary school children with disabilities in the LEA times the average annual per student expenditure obtained in paragraph c above. Funds under Part B of the Act can only be used for excess costs over and above this minimum.
| (1) | Number of children with disabilities in the LEA's elementary schools | 100
|
| (2) | Average annual per student expenditure | $ 7,362
|
| (3) | $7,362 × 100
| |
| | Total minimum amount of funds the LEA must spend for the education of children with disabilities enrolled in the LEA's elementary schools before using Part B funds | $ 736,200 |