CSBA formula for reimbursing BIP costs OK’d
LEAs could recoup $1.2B for cost of intervention plans
Published: May 1, 2013
Two decades of resistance to woefully inadequate compensation to local educational agencies for required Behavioral Intervention Plans paid off last month, when the Commission on State Mandates formally adopted parameters and guidelines including a reimbursement formula developed by CSBA.
LEAs may be able to recover as much as $1.2 billion for the cost of preparing the intervention plans and providing the delineated services, which are required under state law for certain students in special education programs. The standardized formula—developed from a survey of CSBA’s membership on the actual costs, and formally adopted April 19—awards a flat payment of $10.64 per ADA for every school year between 1993-94 and 2010-11.
CSBA and its Education Legal Alliance backed members who challenged the reimbursement structure starting in 1994. Keith J. Bray, CSBA’s general counsel and director of the ELA, said these efforts “have now paid off in getting the Commission on State Mandates to support the educational services provided by the school districts and county offices of education in our state.”
CSBA Assistant Executive Director for Governmental Relations Dennis Meyers cautioned, however, that actual reimbursement will take time. Once the state determines the full amount owed to LEAs for all the plans developed from the 1993-94 school year to 2010-11, it will be added to an existing backlog of $3.8 billion for other unfunded mandates imposed on schools. Meyers said CSBA continues to advocate in the Legislature, before state panels and in the courts for full funding of mandated programs and services.
Mandate reimbursements complicated
Senate Bill 1016 established a Mandate Block Grant in 2012 to provide a flat-rate reimbursement option for state-mandated activities—including Behavioral Intervention Plans—but the process established for the 2012-13 fiscal year is expected to change for 2013-14. CSBA will offer updated guidance to help board members ask the right questions before making the best choice. Considerations will include likely actual costs, costs of borrowing money for cash flow, and compliance with mandates.
In the meantime, School Innovations & Achievement Inc., a longstanding CSBA partner in providing vital fiscal services to schools, offers these insights:
“School districts, county offices of education and charter schools once again face the decision over cost reimbursement options for state-mandated programs for 2012-13. Like last year, school administrators and board members will need to choose between the longstanding constitutional mandate claims process or the state’s Mandate Block Grant program.
“Continuing with the traditional mandate claims process can result in payment delays that can extend well beyond the next fiscal year. Taking the block grant option can provide a district with ready cash, but often at a steep discount that can fall well short of the actual cost of providing the state-required service,” according to the advisory, written by SI&A Executive Director Jeff Williams.
“Like every other fiscal consideration, it is important that school managers carefully consider the question of state mandate funding and make an informed decision based on what’s best for their local community. … School officials should remain vigilant about changes to the mandate program—not just to keep up with developments that may offer their districts new revenue opportunities, but especially to the more nuanced shifts that could cost them down the road.”