What's happening
This bill expands the definition of "tuition" for children with handicapping conditions to include additional reimbursable public expenses.
Why it matters
Expands what costs are covered by "tuition". The bill now includes expenses beyond traditional instruction (such as maintenance, administration, and allocable debt service for facilities), meaning a broader range of services and supports for children with disabilities could be funded and reimbursed.
Allows additional public expenses to be directly reimbursed. By including "direct reimbursement outside the total costs screens, of actual public expenses calculated annually," schools may recover more of the real costs they incur serving students with disabilities, potentially reducing financial strain on local districts.
Could improve access and quality of services for students with disabilities. With more expenses eligible for reimbursement, schools might be better able to invest in necessary resources, environments, and staff, which can directly impact the quality and scope of educational services provided to these students.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Update Tuition Definition Law
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to education
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7688
IN SENATE
February 7, 2020
Introduced by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the definition of "tuition" for children with handicapping conditions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 4401 of the education law, as amended by chapter 470 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
5. "Tuition" shall mean the per pupil cost of all instructional services, supplies and equipment, the operation, maintenance and administration of instructional facilities and allocable debt service for the instructional facilities, as determined by the commissioner. [Approved tuition] It shall also include direct reimbursement outside the total costs screens, of actual public expenses calculated annually. Tuition shall be computed from expenditures from which no revenue has been received from the following sources:
(a) receipts from the federal government;
(b) any cash receipts which reduce the cost of an item applied against the item therefor, except gifts, donations and earned interest, and
(c) any refunds made or any apportionment or payment received from the state for experimental or special programs as approved by the commissioner.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05082-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the definition of "tuition" for children with handicapping conditions
Purpose
This legislation will ensure that special act school districts are reim- bursed for the costs of public expenses and that the tuition rates are not affected because of these costs.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill amends education law section 4401 (5) to clarify that tuition includes the maintenance and administration of instruc- tional facilities. It also provides that tuition shall include direct reimbursement of actual public expenses calculated annually outside the total cost screens employed in the methodology that determines tuition rates.
Read the full memo (763 words)
Section 2 is the effective date.
Justification
"Special Act School Districts" are public school districts created by special action of the legislature for the purpose of providing education and related services to students with disabilities-physical, emotional and/or mental. Most are placed in residential settings associated with these schools primarily by the family court, local social service districts, the Office of Children and Family Services and the Office of Mental Health, or in the case of Mt. Pleasant Blythedale UFSD in West- chester County, patients are residents of the adjacent children's hospi- tal. Regular public school districts, based on the recommendations of their Committees on Special Education, also place students with disabil- ities in Special Act Schools for day or residential services.
There are currently ten Special Act School Districts in New York State. These schools serve some of the neediest students in our state. Many of these students are placed in these schools as the last option available in the continuum of services, as they have had frequent encounters with the criminal justice, foster care and mental health systems and confront serious personal and family challenges. In the case of Mt. Pleasant Bythedale UFSD, they are recovering from life-threatening illnesses, surgeries or accidents.
Despite being public schools, the methodology to calculate tuition rates for Special Act public schools is the same one that is employed for nonpublic schools. This is significant since public schools, including Special Acts, have additional public school expenses that nonpublic schools do not. In addition, the methodology to calculate tuition for Special Act public schools categorizes administrative and facility costs (i.e., non-instructional personnel costs, insurance, electric, gas and maintenance) as indirect costs, and only allows for a maximum reimburse- ment of these costs based on a 30%:70% ratio of indirect to direct costs. Direct costs include instructional salaries and benefits and instructional materials and supplies. Indirect costs that exceed the 30% ratio are not reimbursable. In addition, costs that exceed the established "cost screens" (rates for expenses as adjusted each year by the Regional Cost Index which includes the area where the school is located and surrounding counties to the north and south, irrespective of significant demographic differences such as costs of living), used to control increases in direct and indirect costs result in a decrease in the tuition rate. Accordingly, if indirect costs exceed the 30% ratio, the costs that exceed the 30% ratio are not included in the tuition rate and if direct and/or indirect costs exceed the maximum allowable cost screen, the exceeded amount is deducted from the tuition rate, thereby lowering the rate even further.
Tuition rates are further impacted since they are based on two year old expenses. At one time, tuition rates for Special Acts fully covered these public school expenses. However, notwithstanding a recent increase in the tuition rate, due to no rate increases for the prior 4 years, these expenses are still not completely covered. Finally, since 2007, nondiscretionary increases to public school expenses, direct and indi- rect, as well as the cost of state mandates including, but not limited to, data collection and analysis, additional inspections and audits, APPR and student assessment instruments and scoring, have resulted in tuition rate decreases for all Special Act School Districts due to the methodology described above. This has resulted in reductions in staff and services at many schools.
Moreover, many Special Act School Districts have needed to borrow monies to pay for these public school expenses.
This bill will rectify this inequity by requiring the reimbursement of actual public school expenses and ensuring that these costs do not continue to impact the tuition rate. This bill will also help to ensure that our neediest students are provided with the resources they sorely need for their education and other necessary services.
Legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.