Funds provided to a local educational agency (LEA) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B must not be used to reduce the level of expenditures for the education of children with disabilities made by the LEA from local funds below the level of those expenditures for the preceding fiscal year.

A LEA complies with MOE requirements if the LEA:

• Budgets for the education of children with disabilities from local funds or a combination of local and State funds;

• Spends funds for the same purpose and from the same source as the most recent prior year for which information is available; and

• Ensures that the amount of local funds budgeted for the education of children with disabilities is at least the same, either in total or per capita, as the amount the LEA spent for that purpose in the most recent fiscal year for which information is available.

EXCEPTION TO MOE

The LEA may reduce the level of expenditures by the LEA under IDEA Part B below the level of those expenditures for the preceding fiscal year if the reduction is attributable to any of the following:

• The assumption of cost by the high cost fund (HCF) operated by the Texas Education Agency (TEA);

• The termination of costly expenditures for long-term purchases, such as the acquisition of equipment or the construction of school facilities;

• The voluntary departure, by retirement or otherwise, or departure for just cause, of special education or related services personnel;

• A decrease in the enrollment of children with disabilities; or

• The termination of the obligation of the LEA to provide a program of special education to a particular child with a disability that is an exceptionally costly program, as determined by the TEA, because the child:

• Has left the jurisdiction of the LEA;

• Has reached the age at which the obligation of the LEA to provide free appropriate public education (FAPE) to the child has terminated; or

• No longer needs the program of special education.

If a LEA spends reimbursements from Federal funds (e.g., Medicaid) for IDEA Part B services, those funds will not be considered to be State or local funds for purposes of MOE.

EARLY INTERVENING SERVICES

Funds made available to provide early intervening services that are coordinated and aligned with activities funded by and carried out under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) consistent with USE OF IDEA PART B FORMULA AMOUNTS PERMISSIVE must supplement, and not supplant, funds available under the ESEA.

For any fiscal year for which the IDEA Part B formula fund allocation received by the LEA exceeds the amount the LEA received for the previous fiscal year, the LEA:

• May reduce the level of expenditures by not more than 50 percent of the amount of such excess; and

• Must use an amount of local funds equal to the reduction of expenditures to carry out activities authorized under the ESEA when it exercises its authority to reduce funding.

The TEA will prohibit the LEA from reducing the level of expenditures for that fiscal year, if the TEA determines that a LEA is unable to establish and maintain programs of FAPE or the TEA has taken action against the LEA as part of its monitoring, technical assistance, and enforcement responsibilities.

The amount of IDEA Part B formula funds expended by a LEA will count toward the maximum amount of expenditures such LEA may reduce.