Virginia Law

A. In accordance with the provisions of the Act, the Virginia Department of Education disburses the federal funds that are available under Part B of the Act to assist local educational agencies with the excess cost of providing special education and related services to eligible children with disabilities. The local educational agency shall submit an annual plan to the Virginia Department of Education describing the use of such funds in accordance with subsection B of 8VAC20-81-230. (34 CFR 300.200; 34 CFR 76.301)

B. Excess costs means those costs that are in excess of the average annual per student expenditure in a local educational agency during the preceding school year for an elementary school or secondary school student as may be appropriate, and that shall be computed after deducting: (34 CFR 300.16, 34 CFR 300.202 and Appendix A to 34 CFR Part 300)

1. Amounts received under Part B of the Act;

2. Amounts received under Part A of Title I of the ESEA;

3. Amounts received under Parts A and B of Title III of the ESEA; or

4. Any state or local funds expended for programs that would qualify for assistance under any of the parts described in subdivision 1, 2, or 3 of this subsection but excluding any amounts for capital outlay and debt service.

A local educational agency meets the excess cost requirement if it has spent at least a minimum average amount for the education of its children with disabilities in state and local funds before funds under Part B of the Act are used. (See 34 CFR Part 300, Appendix A for an example of how excess costs shall be calculated.)

C. A local educational agency complies with the maintenance of effort requirement in establishing its eligibility for an award in a fiscal year if the local educational agency budgets the same total or per capita amount in state and local funds as it spent from the same sources to educate children with disabilities in the most recent prior year for which information is available. (34 CFR 300.203)

D. Part B funds may be used to supplement, but shall not be used to supplant state and local expenditures for special education and related services, and shall not be used to reduce the level of expenditures for the education of children with disabilities made by the local school division from the local funds below the level of those expenditures for the preceding year, except under certain conditions specified under the Act. (34 CFR 300.202 through 34 CFR 300.204)

E. The amount of Part B funds determined to be available for each local educational agency is based upon the formulas specified under the Act. (34 CFR 300.705 and 34 CFR 300.816)

F. A local educational agency may use Part B funds to implement a schoolwide program under § 1114 of the ESEA, except that the amount of Part B funds used in any fiscal year shall not exceed the amount of total Part B funds received that year, divided by the number of children with disabilities in the jurisdiction, and multiplied by the number of children with disabilities participating in the schoolwide program. Part B funds used for this purpose are not subject to other Part B funding requirements, but the local educational agency shall ensure that all children with disabilities in schoolwide program schools: (34 CFR 300.206)

1. Receive services in accordance with a properly developed IEP; and

2. Are afforded all of the rights and services guaranteed to children with disabilities under the Act.

G. Children without disabilities may benefit from the expenditure of Part B funds when special education and related services and supplementary aids and services are provided in a regular class or other education-related setting to a child with a disability in accordance with the IEP of the child. (34 CFR 300.208)

H. Early intervening services. (34 CFR 300.226 and 34 CFR 300.646)

1. Children who are not currently identified as needing special education or related services may need additional academic and behavioral supports to succeed in a general education environment. These supports may be in the form of early intervening services.

Early intervening services apply to children in kindergarten through grade 12, with a particular emphasis on students in kindergarten through grade three.

2. To develop and implement coordinated, early intervening services, which may include interagency financing structures, a local school division may not use more than 15% of the amount the school division receives under Part B of the Act for any fiscal year. The 15% is less any amount reduced by the local school division pursuant to 34 CFR 300.205, if any, in combination with other amounts (which may include amounts other than education funds).

3. In implementing coordinated, early intervening services under this section, a local educational agency may carry out activities that include:

a. Professional development (which may be provided by entities other than local educational agencies) for teachers and other school staff to enable such personnel to deliver scientifically based academic and behavioral interventions, including scientifically based literacy instruction, and, where appropriate, instruction on the use of adaptive and instructional software; and

b. Providing educational and behavioral evaluations, services, and supports, including scientifically based literacy instruction.

4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to either limit or create a right to a free appropriate public education under Part B of the Act or to delay appropriate evaluation of a child suspected of having a disability.

5. Each local educational agency that develops and maintains coordinated, early intervening services under this section shall annually report to the Virginia Department of Education on:

a. The number of children served under this section who received early intervening services; and

b. The number of children served under this section who received early intervening services and subsequently receive special education and related services under Part B of the Act during the preceding two-year period.

6. Funds made available to carry out this section may be used to carry out coordinated, early intervening services aligned with activities funded by, and carried out under the ESEA if those funds are used to supplement, and not supplant, funds made available under the ESEA for the activities and services assisted under this section.

7. The amount of funds expended by a local educational agency for early intervening services shall count toward the maximum amount of expenditures that the local educational agency may reduce when determining compliance with the requirement for maintenance of effort.

8. If the Virginia Department of Education determines significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring in a local educational agency in the identification of children with disabilities, or the placement of identified children in a particular educational setting, the local educational agency shall:

a. Use 15% of its Part B funds to provide comprehensive coordinated early intervening services particularly, but not exclusively, to those groups that were significantly overidentified; and

b. Publicly report on the revision of policies, practices, and procedures used in the identification and placement of children with disabilities.

I. If the Virginia Department of Education determines that a local school division is adequately providing a free appropriate public education to all children with disabilities residing in the area served by that school division with state and local funds, the department may reallocate any portion of the funds under Part B of the Act that are not needed by the school division to provide a free appropriate public education to other school divisions in the state that are not adequately providing special education and related services to all children with disabilities residing in the areas they serve. (34 CFR 300.705 and 34 CFR 300.817)