Special Education

Special Education Child Count

Andrea Kunkel, CCOSA General Counsel & ODSS Executive Director & Ginger Elliott-Teague, Ph.D., OSDE Director of Data Analysis

Child Count is a count of students enrolled in Local Education Agencies and on an IEP as of October 1 of the fiscal year. In addition to identifying children currently served, the count collects primary, secondary and suspected disabilities, as appropriate; child-level least restrictive environments and early childhood environments; and demographics, including race and ethnicity. The purpose is twofold: to determine state and federal aid and to measure several annual accountability indicators.

Because money and accountability are involved, it’s critical that districts provide quality child count data. How? (See the outlined guidelines on page 24 of Better Schools)

In every record in OK EdPlan, the student must have:

A. finalized eligibility and IEP events

B. a valid STN

C. an educational environment code

D. complete disability category information (primary, suspected, etc.) and related services

E. a valid grade code

F. valid race & ethnicity entries

G. EL status

H. a date of birth

I. a gender

J. an accredited site code and

K. a valid enrollment status

Students in Developmental Delay (DD) districts (who are categorized as DD) must have a finalized eligibility document in EdPlan and a suspected disability on their current MEEGs

No students age 10 or greater can have a disability category of DD

Students with grade PK must have an updated early childhood environment recorded

Students no longer present in any district must be exited in EdPlan to match the Student Information System (SIS) un-enrollment date and reason

Every student must have the correct enrollment status selected on their personal page - Public School, Residential Facility, Correctional Facility, Home/Hospital, Separate School, or Private School

Students must be enrolled in the district SIS with the appropriate code (including 3 and 4 year olds being served on IEPs), and

All duplicate records must be resolved.

How do districts prepare to provide quality child count data? They have appropriate personnel participate in OSDE’s annual child count training and begin the work to complete and correct incomplete and inaccurate information on EdPlan well before October 1, 2020. If a district doesn’t have a student’s IEP finalized by October 1, then the student will not be included in the FY21 SPED child count. If a district isn’t able to resolve an error prior to October 1, it can still be corrected before the end of the day on October 15 – the day by which the superintendent must certify the district’s data for it to be considered timely. If the error isn’t resolved by that time, the child will not be counted.

To ensure that every child is counted, call on OSDE Special Education Services Section personnel for help.

They want you to get the state and federal funding to which your district is entitled and for your district to meet your accountability indicators. So get training, start early and seek help!

Professional Development Expense Reimbursement: Project 615 & 613 Funds

Andrea Kunkel, CCOSA General Counsel & ODSS Executive Director

The only permitted use of these funds is for PD activities that increase teachers’ ability to ensure positive outcomes for students with disabilities.

Funds are allocated to districts based on their most recent child count, and every district receives a set allocation. Even very small districts with comparatively few students identified with IDEA disabilities will receive at least $500. Districts can locate the amount of their allocation on the allocation tab of the Grants Management System (GMS) for Project 615.

To take advantage of this opportunity, districts must create an application in the GMS for Project 615 that explains the details of the planned PD activities, with a professional development plan to justify them. Districts must complete a budget for their entire allocation, but can amend their application any time. Districts can use the funds for a variety of PD opportunities, including inviting speakers in, purchasing books for staff, attending conferences, conducting trainings and attending webinars. Districts that don’t submit a budget by December 1, 2020 will forfeit their allocation, with the funds going back to OSDE-SES.

In addition to Project 615, OSDE has also released the list of approved Project 613 learning activities. Project 613 is intended to increase participation in both OSDEsponsored events/trainings/conferences and activities sponsored by other groups that would benefit special education teachers and district staff in improving outcomes for students with disabilities.

Each approved activity is tracked in OSDE’s GMS. Districts must create an application in the GMS and submit it for pre-approval. Thereafter, districts must make a claim that adheres to and is approved through the OSDE Joint Federal Programs Claims Procedures. Depending on the activity, Project 613 reimbursement is offered for mileage, substitutes, travel cost, registration fees and lodging. Districts do not receive an allocation for Project 613 funds. They are available on a first-come, first-served basis to all districts.

Special education directors, start planning now, keeping the December 1 deadline in mind. If you’re not in charge of fiscal matters, help your superintendent complete the process to use these funds in your district.