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Facility Schools Tuition Cost and December Staff

Overview

Federal regulation requires each local education agency (LEA) ensure a continuum of placement alternatives to meet the educational needs of students eligible for special education services.  The student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team is charged with developing an individualized plan for the student and determining the most appropriate placement for the implementation of the IEP.  In some cases, the IEP team may determine the most appropriate placement to be an approved facility school. 

Per state ECEA Rules, approved facility schools may charge tuition to the responsible LEA for the additional cost of providing special education services to students with disabilities.  ECEA Rules require the Colorado Department of Education to have a process in place to calculate tuition cost rates for approved facility schools.  Tuition cost rates are approved annually by the State Board of Education.

The Facility Schools Tuition Cost System contains three sections that make up a complete Tuition Cost Application:  1) Program Identification, 2) Cost Line Items, and 3) Staff.  This system provides a secure means for each approved facility school/program to submit budgetary cost items and staff information necessary for the Department to calculate a tuition cost rate.

The system will additionally be used by approved facility schools to submit education December Staff data for those staff employed on December 1st, as required per the Special Education December Count collection, to ensure staff employed in facility schools are appropriately licensed and endorsed and to fulfill Federal and State reporting requirements.

The Office of Facility Schools, through this system, will ensure that tuition cost rates are calculated consistently across all facility school programs and that December Staff data is verified for qualified position status.

Deadlines

2023-2024 Facility Schools Tuition Cost Application Timeline and Checklist (PDF) (posted 4/26/2023)

  • Tuition Cost Application open date - Monday, July 24, 2023
  • Tuition Cost Application: LEA Approvers submit their final data to CDE - Friday, September 15, 2023
  • Tuition Cost Application: CDE completes the review and close date – Friday, September 29, 2023

2023-2024 Facility Schools December Staff

  • December Staff: Open date –  Thursday, November 2nd, 2023
  • December Staff: LEA Approvers submit their final data to CDE – Friday, February 2nd, 2024
  • December Staff: CDE completes the review and close date – Friday, February 16th, 2024

File Layout and Definitions

2023-24 Facility Schools Tuition Cost Application Data Elements, Definitions, and Instructions (PDF) (posted 4/26/2023)

2023-24 Facility Schools December Staff Data Elements, Definitions, and Instructions (PDF) (posted 10/12/2023)

Business Rules

2023-24 Facility Schools Tuition Cost and December Staff Business Rules (XLSX) (posted 4/26/2023)

Additional Resources

 

Contact: Lori Kochevar kochevar_l@cde.state.co.us for any questions or if you need assistance with accessibility to any of the documents on this webpage.