Archived Information

School Finance: School Choice

School Choice Roster Updates, Spring 2007

3/23/07

October 1, 2006 enrollment submitted by receiving districts through SIMS was the basis for tuition calculations used to generate the December 29, 2006 and March 30, 2007 assessments and payments for school choice sending and receiving districts.

The school choice law requires both a fall and a spring enrollment reporting period. For this spring's reporting, receiving districts are asked to download their current enrollment spreadsheet from DOE's security portal, and save the file locally. Because SIMS does not collect exact start dates, leave dates, or pupil addresses, district staff should enter that information for each pupil. In addition, for any school choice pupil who receives special education services, a pupil-specific special education cost should be calculated and entered on the spreadsheet (for further guidance, see the school choice sped increment explanation). When all of the school choice data have been updated, the claim form should be saved on the district's computer and uploaded through the DOE security portal to the district's school choice drop box.

These data changes will be used to calculate final FY07 school choice tuition. The June 29, 2007 local aid distribution will reflect the difference between final annual tuition and the amounts paid in the December and March distributions.

Please note:

• The sped increment is calculated on a template similar to that used for the circuit breaker program. However, there are differences. For that reason, receiving school choice districts should be sure to download and use the FY07 School Choice SPED Increment template .

• Sped increments that exceed the circuit breaker threshold must be uploaded to the school choice drop box on the DOE security portal for DOE Circuit Breaker staff review.

• All sped increment calculations are subject to audits by DOE's Circuit Breaker staff

• Summer services that occurred between June and September of 2006 (if specified in a student's IEP) are now eligible to be included on the sped increment form.

• Claim Form Instructions   are available for completing and updating the school choice claim form spreadsheet, which is named "07choice000.xls" where 000 is the lea code.

• A certification statement   is required from the superintendent of each receiving district. This should be mailed or faxed to Phyllis Rogers at the address below, once the file has been submitted.

  Office of School Finance
  Massachusetts Department of Education
  350 Main Street
  Malden, MA 02148-5023
  Fax 781-338-6530

• The "07choice000" claim form spreadsheet, sped increment template (only if there is a pupil whose increment exceeds the threshold), and certification statements are due by April 27th, 2007.