Mass.gov skip to main contentState Government · State Services   
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Go to Selected Program Area
Massachusetts State Seal
News School/District Profiles School/District Administration Educator Services Assessment/Accountability Family & Community  
> Administration Finance/Grants PK-16 Program Support Information Services  
> Finance/Grants
Recent Updates
> Accounting & Auditing
> Chapter 70 Program
(Foundation Budget)
> Charter Schools
> Circuit Breaker
> ESE Budget
> Federal Renovation Program
> Grants: Information
> Nutrition Programs
(School Lunch)
> Per Pupil Expenditure Reports
> Regional Districts
> School Building Issues
> School Choice
> School Finance Regulations
> Statistical Comparisons
> Transportation
> Vocational Education
> Key Contacts
> Links

FY04 School Choice Rate, As of June, 2004

Note:

Beginning in FY03, the way that special education school choice pupils' tuitions are calculated changed in accordance with a Board of Education vote in November 2002. Instead of applying a district-wide average special education rate to any pupil's full-time equivalency, the actual costs of specific services for each pupil are now used to compute special education increments. These increments are added to a receiving district's base regular education rate, to determine any special education pupil's school choice tuition.

December 2003 and March 2004 school choice calculations for FY04 will rely upon the October 1 Student Information System (SIMS) submission. However, that data base was never intended to contain a field for a school choice sped increment. Therefore, it is the Department's plan to estimate annual FY04 increments for the December and March as follows:

  1. if a pupil had a special education school choice increment in FY03, that amount will be used as the estimate, or

  2. a pupil's increment will be estimated based upon statewide averages for his or her special education placement type (SIMS element DOE034), or

  3. if the pupil has been claimed for circuit-breaker reimbursement, the total cost claimed (net of the regular ed component) will be the basis for the choice increment, or

  4. actual costs for current iep's will be accepted using the FY04 rates. Districts are not required to complete pupils' FY04 sped increments in December. However, especially with the higher cost pupils, it may be more fair to both the receiving and sending districts involved to do a December estimate if possible.

School choice rate calculations are shown here for regular, limited english, and vocational programs. The rates are set at 75 percent of the receiving district's average cost per pupil in the program, or $5,000, whichever is lower.
E-mail this page| Print View| Print Pdf  
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Search · Site Map · Policies · Site Info · Contact ESE