Skip First Level Navigation | Skip All Navigation

Home > Rules & Legislation > Letters from the Commissioner > Administrative Letter 004

Revised Instructions for Special Education Tuition

ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER:  4
POLICY CODE:  IHB
TO: Superintendent of Schools
FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner
DATE: July 31, 2009
RE: Revised Instructions for Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07)

The instructions in this letter replace the instructions in Administrative Letter No. 2, dated July 14, 2009.
 
The official 2008-09 Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07) for each school administrative unit is now available through the Maine Education Data Management System (MEDMS).  This web-based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07) is available on the Special Services Report Forms website:
http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/specservices.htm
The report automatically provides a list of the children with disabilities who were approved for an out-of-district placement at private school during the 2008-2009 school year.  However, some students may not be listed and will have to be added through the Add feature – such as those children with disabilities who were in an out-of-district placement as follows:

  • The student’s placement was approved prior to 2008-09 but the student continued in the placement in 2008-09.
  • Those students in a public school or a public regional/private day program.

If this report is not submitted by September 15, 2009 it will be assumed that the information in the web-based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07) is correct and your subsidy for 2009-10 will be based on the amounts indicated (zero if no amounts have been entered).
Instructions for accessing, completing and reviewing the MEDMS Special Education Tuition & Board Report have been included with this letter and are available at the following website:
http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/specialservices/efs07/07menu.htm
If you have questions regarding the completion of the web-based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07), please contact Denise Towers at (207) 624-6655 or denise.towers@maine.gov

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESSING, COMPLETING AND REVIEWING THE
Web-Based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07):
Step 1.   Compile a list of students.
Please compile a list of your unit’s children with disabilities who were in an out-of-district placement for the 2008-09 school year for which your unit paid for special education services such as tuition and board.  The list should include the following required information:

  • MEDMS student Id number
  • Complete student name
  • Student’s birth date
  • Name of school that the student has been placed
  • 2008-09 special education costs for these students and whether these costs were paid with local funds or other funds.  (If using other funds, you will need to know the source of funding.)

State Wards and State Agency Clients – do not include those students that are State Wards/State Agency Clients whose special education costs were paid by the Maine Department of Education.  If a State Wards/State Agency Clients whose special education costs were paid 100% by the Department of Education appears in the report, please leave the amount blank or enter zero.
We recommend that you have all the above information before you start entering this information into the Web-Based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07).
There is a session time limit set on the Web-based EF-S-07 for security purposes.  If you have not entered data nor saved data for 20 minutes, the session will time-out and you will need to log-in again.  Once data is submitted successfully it will remain in the report and can be changed using the “Update” feature except for the State Student Id.
Step 2. Go to the MEDMS homepage and Log In.
Personnel with the role of “Special Education” may access this form in the Maine Education Data Management System (MEDMS) – your local SAU MEDMS Administrator can update your current MEDMS role to include “Special Education”.  You may access the form by using Internet Explorer and going to the MEDMS home page: http://www.maine.gov/education/medms/homepage.htm
Click on “MEDMS Log In”, type in Username and Password.  (If you are responsible for more than one school administrative unit, the Username will be different for each school administrative unit.  Once you have logged-in as a particular school administrative unit, you will only be able to view the form for that school administrative unit.)
Step 3. Update Feature – updates existing student data.
Under “Application”, select “EFS 07”, then click on “Go”
Under “Action”, select “Update”, then click on “Go”

The “resident” school administrative unit must enter the special education expenditure data into the web- based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07).

  • Do not report “regular” education expenditures in this report.
  • If the correct name of the school or program is not indicated under “Name of school if not indicated”, please click on dropdown arrow and select school/program.
  • If the student is placed in an out-of-state school please select “Non-Maine School”.
  • If a student is only listed once but was placed more than one school in 2008-09, the second placement may have to be added using the “Add” feature – instructions in Step 4. 

Please enter special education expenditures such as tuition and board in the appropriate columns:

  • Local Funds – Elementary (PreK-8)
  • Local Funds – Secondary (9-12)
  • Other Funds – Elementary (PreK-8)
  • Other Funds – Secondary (9-12)

If expenditures are indicated in the “Other Funds” columns, please select the appropriate “Fund Type” – this is a required field for expenditures in “Other Funds” columns and the report will not submit without this information.
Please click on the “Save” button at the bottom of the form to submit the added information. Each time you submit expenditure in the Update feature, totals will appear at the bottom of the report.
Step 4. Add Feature -- Add a student and data. 
Under “Application”, select “EFS 07”, then click on “Go”
Under “Action”, select “Add”, then click on “Go”
 This feature will allow you to add a student that is not already on the report or to add a student with more than one out-of-district placement.

“Select SAU” should indicate the resident unit that is paying for the student.  (If you are responsible for more than one school administrative unit, the Username will be different for each school administrative unit.  Once you have logged-in as a particular school administrative unit, you will only be able to view the form for that school administrative unit.) 
Enter the following required information:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • State Student Id (once submitted this number can not be changed)
  • Date of Birth (format must be MM/DD/YYYY)
  • Select a school – please click on dropdown arrow and select school.  If the student is placed in an out-of-state school please select “Non-Maine School”.  

The student will not be added if any of the above information is missing.  The State Student Id must be accurately entered as it can not be changed once it has been submitted.
Please enter expenditures for special education tuition and board in the appropriate columns:

  • Local Funds – Elementary (PreK-8)
  • Local Funds – Secondary (9-12)
  • Other Funds – Elementary (PreK-8)
  • Other Funds – Secondary (9-12)

Do not report “regular” education expenditures in this report.
If expenditures are indicated in the “Other Funds” columns, please select the appropriate “Fund Type” – this is a required field for expenditures in “Other Funds” and the report will not submit without this information.
Please click on the “Save” button at the bottom of the form to submit the student.
Once a student is added, you may go into “Update” and see that the student has been added.  This record may be revised in “Update” feature except the State student Id can not be changed.
Step 5. Final Review and Total Costs.

Once you have completed Steps 3 and 4, please go into the Update feature (Step 3) to review all the data for accuracy.  If everything is correct, please click on the “Save” button at the bottom of the form to submit.  Once you submit expenditure totals will appear at the bottom of the report.
Each time a submission is made an email will be sent to the Department of Education that your unit has made a submission.  The Department of Education Special Services staff will be reviewing your submissions.  If it is determined the placement was not approved for the 2008-09 school year then that student’s costs will be disapproved. If you find that you must revise the report, simply enter the revised information (Steps 3 and 4) and click on the “Save” button – this will re-submit the report.
Please be sure that total special education expenses for out-of-district placements are reported. The total special education tuition and board expenditures submitted on this report should agree with the special education tuition and board reported in the MEDMS Financial System.
Units with no students.
If your unit has no students in approved special education out-of-district placements, then the web-based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07) will indicate “No Students Found”.  If this is correct, please click the box to verify you have no students to report and click on the “Save” button. If this incorrect, please follow the instructions in Step 4 to add a student(s).
If you have questions regarding the completion of the web-based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07), please contact Denise Towers at (207) 624-6655 or denise.towers@maine.gov