1. School Finance Excess Cost Reimbursement (Including Preschool Tuition Reimbursement) User Manuals Version 1.0 Revised 12/02/14

2. Table of Contents I.Excess Cost Introduction and General Information3 II. Excess Cost School-Age Per Capita and Specific Student Manual15 III. JVSD and DD Excess Cost & Preschool Tuition Manual64 2

3. Excess Cost (Including Preschool Tuition) Introduction and General Information 3

4. Excess Cost and Preschool Tuition Background Under Ohio law traditional public school districts, JVSD’s and Boards of DD are required or permitted to educate nonresident students with disabilities and to receive state and local funding for those students. The funds a district receives are typically a combination of state foundation dollars, tuition and excess cost. Even though another district is educating a student with disabilities, the school district in which the student’s natural parents reside may be responsible by court order or other provisions of the law to pay the cost of educating the student. In those cases the educating district may be entitled to charge tuition and/or excess cost to the district of the parents’ residence. Tuition is an amount of money set annually by the Ohio Department of Education, which the educating district may collect from the district of residence, and the amount is equal to the local school property/income tax dollars paid per pupil to the district of residence except for preschool tuition (see Note below). Tuition is transferred from the district of residence to the educating district through the School Finance Payment Report (SFPR). Excess cost is a sum of money the educating district may charge to the district of residence when the total cost to educate a student with a disability exceeds what the educating district received in state funding and/or tuition. NOTE: In previous years educating districts and DD’s filed for preschool excess cost at the same time they filed for school-age excess cost. However, the law under which excess cost may be charged does not include preschool students. Tuition only may be charged for preschool students, but the process for filing and the calculation of preschool tuition is very similar to filing and calculating excess cost. Therefore, excess cost and preschool tuition will continue to be filed together. 4

5. Procedure Since excess cost and preschool tuition are based on the total cost of educating students, the filing for payment of excess cost/preschool tuition occurs after the end of the school year. A new web-based program for filing and submitting excess cost/preschool tuition student applications has been developed by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) and has been implemented for reimbursement of FY14 costs. No paper forms, attachments or support documents will be accepted – everything must be completed online. Treasurers will have immediate access to the program, but personnel performing the role of excess cost data entry must have that role assigned to them by their OEDS administrator. As in previous years excess cost applications for K-12 students (including Grade 23) in traditional school districts may be filed on either the Per Capita or Specific Student form. The decision to use the Per Capita or Specific Student form will be made by the educating district on a student-by-student basis. Calculation of excess cost on the Per Capita will be based on the average cost of educating all Category 2-6 school-age students using year- end financial data submitted by the educating district through EMIS. Those data will automatically populate the Per Capita form, and districts submitting that form will not be required to submit any additional data or documentation. Educating districts choosing to use the Specific Student form will be required to submit some student costs and documentation, but some other cost data will be system-generated from year-end EMIS financial data. Instructions for filing and submitting the Per Capita and Specific Student applications can be found online and in subsequent chapters of the manual. Districts and DD’s filing for preschool tuition must submit student applications on the Preschool form in the program using the instructions found online and in the manual. DD’s filing for school-age (K-12) excess cost must submit student applications on the DD form in the program using the instructions found online and in the manual. 5

6. JVSD’s filing for excess cost must submit student applications on the JVSD form in the program using the instructions found online and in the manual. Prior to completing any of the excess cost/preschool tuition forms, individual SSID’s and other required student information must be entered into a spreadsheet located on the School Finance forms page of the ODE website. After entering the student data, the spreadsheet must be uploaded to the excess cost program using the instructions found online and in the manual. If support documentation is required for a student application, that documentation must be scanned and uploaded to the online program. After the educating district has completed the process for entering student data, costs and documentation and has submitted that student’s application for payment, the resident district responsible for paying the excess cost/preschool tuition will be notified by e-mail of the submission and will have an opportunity to review the application and approve it, send it back for correction or hold it for area coordinator assistance. Collaboration and cooperation between the educating and resident districts is essential for the success of the program. The role of area coordinators will be limited to certifying the state funds received by the educating district and providing assistance upon request of the districts involved. No deadline for submission of excess cost/preschool tuition student applications has been set, but adequate time will be provided for districts to submit and review applications. Advance notice will be provided when a deadline has been established. The payment process will be similar to that of previous years. After an application has been submitted and approved, and the 30-day approval period has ended, the transfer of excess cost from the resident district to the educating district will be included on the SFPR Statement of Settlement. The timing of the transfer will depend on the calendar submission dates set by ODE staff members who process the twice-monthly SFPR payments. EMIS reports will be provided to both the educating district and resident district, which itemizes by SSID the amount transferred between districts. After the payment has occurred, no corrections will be made by ODE if either district discovers an error in the amount since both districts have previously agreed that the submitted application and excess certification amounts are correct. Any payment/repayment of excess cost amounts must occur directly between the districts. Area coordinators will be available to assist districts during the submission/review process. Do not hesitate to seek their assistance if you have questions or concerns. 6

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8. 1.Educating entity uploads SSIDs into the system via spreadsheet 2.Educating entity then goes into the system to review and complete its excess cost applications. a.Applications successfully loaded will have a status of “Started”. Applications that do not successfully load will have a status of “Data Issue”. See slide 8 for information on correcting data issues. b.For JVS, DD, and Preschool students, the application will show the costs uploaded from the spreadsheet. c.School-aged student applications will at first appear on district-wide per capita basis. i.No cost data for school-aged students will be requested through the student upload spreadsheet. ii.In order to edit a school-aged application, the educating district will first have to change the application type to “specific student”. iii.If any per capita cost item is changed, the district must attach supporting documentation. iv.Educating entity will have the ability to edit only the following per capita cost line items. a)Special education teacher salary and benefits b)Instructional supplies and materials c)Instructional equipment d)Operating costs e)Pupil support v.When related service costs are added to a specific student application, the per capita pupil support costs will be zeroed out. Likewise, if transportation costs are added to the specific student application, operational costs will be zeroed out. vi.When contracted education program costs are added to a specific student application, all per capita costs except administration will be zeroed out. d.A “speech only” student will not have any per capita special education teacher costs included and the only related service that can be added will be speech if submitted as a specific student application. If a speech only student is submitted on a Per Capita application, no special education teacher costs or speech related service costs will be included. Overview of Excess Cost Submission and Review 8

9. 3.Districts will be able to assign persons with an “excess cost data entry role” which will allow them to upload SSIDs and edit applications. a.When ready, the data entry person can change the status to “District Reviewed” which indicates that the application is ready for the superintendent or treasurer to submit. 4.When ready, the educating entity submits the excess costs application which gives the application a status of “submitted”. a.Only persons with superintendent or treasurer role in OEDS will be able to submit applications. i.Only one person needs to submit, not both. Submitting the application substitutes for both treasurer and superintendent signatures. b.Once submitted, the educating entity will not be able to make further edits. i.If further edits are needed or the application was submitted by mistake, the educating entity will have to call the area coordinator or resident district. ii.The area coordinator or resident district can return the application for correction. 5.At the end of each day, the resident district will receive a batch email that lists all the SSIDs of applications that were submitted or resubmitted that day. 6.Resident district reviews submitted applications and has four choices. a.Approve the application which changes status to “Approved” i.Only persons with superintendent or treasurer role in OEDS will be able to approve applications. Data entry role cannot. b.Return application for correction which changes status to “Correction Needed” i.Only persons with superintendent or treasurer role will be able to return applications. Data entry person cannot. ii.If resident district returns application, the system will require a comment. iii.At the end of each day, the educating entity will get a bulk email listing the SSIDs of all applications that were returned for correction. 9

10. c.Do nothing i.If resident district does not act within 30 days of application being submitted, system will automatically approve the application. Applications will have an “original submission date” on them. Districts will know that 30 calendar days after this date, the application will automatically be approved unless placed in “Correction Needed” or “ODE On Hold”. ii.Resident district will receive email 10 days and 5 days prior to the system automatically approving an application. d.Put application ODE On Hold. i.In order to put an application on hold, the district must put in a comment as to why. ii.When application is put on hold, the area coordinator and educating district will get email. iii.Only the area coordinator can approve or return applications put on hold but will need to include a comment. iv.Area coordinator will have the ability to edit the application, but not student costs, before approving or returning for correction. 7.Educating entity reviews applications returned by the resident district. a.The educating entity is encouraged to work with the resident district to resolve any concerns/issues with the application but may also contact their Area Coordinator for assistance. b.Educating entity may edit and attach supporting documents to returned applications but must resubmit them to get paid. i.Resubmitting application changes status to “Resubmitted”. ii.SSIDs of resubmitted applications will be included on the batch email going to the resident district. c.Educating entity will have the ability to put application on hold until issues are resolved. d.Educating entity also will have ability to withdraw the application. 10

11. 8.If a returned application is resubmitted, resident district has the same four choices as in step 6 above. a.Within the “30 day window”, applications can be returned and resubmitted any number of times. b.Any application with “correction needed” status will automatically be put on hold 30 days after the initial submission date. c.Any application resubmitted and not approved by the resident district will be put “ODE On Hold” on the 30 th day. *** Bottom Line: After 30 days from the initial submission date, all applications should be either approved or put on hold. *** 11

12. Available Actions Depending on Status StatusPossible ActionsNew Status StartedEdit and review the application Edit and submit the application Withdraw the application District Reviewed Submitted/Not Eligible Withdrawn Not EligibleEdit and review the application Edit and submit the application Withdraw the application District Reviewed Submitted/Not Eligible Withdrawn Restart the applicationStarted District ReviewedEdit and submit the application Withdraw the application Restart the application Submitted/Not Eligible Withdrawn Started Submitted/ResubmittedApprove the application Return application for correction Put application on hold Approved Returned for Correction ODE on Hold Correction NeededEdit and review the application Edit and submit the application Withdraw the application District Reviewed Submitted/Not Eligible Withdrawn ODE on HoldApprove the application Return application for correction Approved Return for Correction ApprovedPut application on hold Return application for correction ODE on Hold Correction Needed Data IssueEdit and start the application Withdraw the application Started Withdrawn 12

13. Which Roles Can Change Which Statuses? StatusData EntryTreas/SuperRes. DistrictODE StartedDistrict Reviewed or Withdrawn Submit or Withdrawn Cannot ChangeWithdrawn Not EligibleDistrict Reviewed or Withdrawn Submit or Withdrawn Cannot Change WithdrawnStarted Cannot Change District ReviewedStarted or Withdrawn Submit or Withdrawn or Start Cannot ChangeWithdrawn SubmitCannot Change Approved or Correction Needed or ODE on Hold Correction NeededDistrict Reviewed or Withdrawn Submit or Withdrawn Cannot ChangeWithdrawn ODE on HoldNothing Approved or Correction Needed ApprovedNothing ODE on HoldODE Hold or Correction Needed Data IssueWithdrawn NothingStarted or Withdrawn 13

14. Excess Cost School-Age Per Capita and Specific Student Manual 14

15. Excel Spreadsheet (School-Age Per Capita and Specific Student) Spreadsheets can be found on the ODE website http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/School-Choice/Public- Schools/Forms-and-Program-Information-for-Traditional-Publhttp://education.ohio.gov/Topics/School-Choice/Public- Schools/Forms-and-Program-Information-for-Traditional-Publ Choose the School-Age Spreadsheet for EMIS Status’ 1C, 1P, 1T, 1W, 19 and 1B. For Preschool, JVSD and DD students, you will use a separate spreadsheet (see Slide 69) When opening spreadsheet, be sure to click “Enable Content” After entering student data, you must Validate the spreadsheet by clicking on the instructions tab and then clicking the Validate Excess Costs Button. After clicking the Validate Excess Cost button, if the word “Validated” turns green then your spreadsheet is fine. If it turns red, check the instructions on the instruction tab to troubleshoot the data on your spreadsheet. Be sure to name and save your spreadsheet to a location on your computer so that you will be able to find it when you upload the spreadsheet into the program online. 15

16. School-Age Spreadsheet 16

17. School-Age Instructions 17

18. Accessing the Excess Cost Program LOGGING ON THROUGH THE SAFE ACCOUNT Users can access the online Excess Cost Program through ODE’s Web-secure portal known as SAFE (Secure Applications for Enterprise). Users can enter SAFE through the SAFE link located at the top of the ODE Home Page. [Note: Users must have already set up a SAFE account prior to being able to sign in. Superintendents and Treasurers will automatically have access to the program. Another role that can be assigned is Data Entry. After clicking the SAFE link, the user should be on a screen with the box shown below. Enter SAFE user name and password, and then lick the Sign In button. 18

19. Next select the School Finance link from the list of web systems shown. 19

20. Click the Excess Cost box to select the Excess Cost Program When you enter the system it will take you to the School Finance Application Search screen shown below. If you are linked to more than one district in OEDS, you will be asked to select a district. Select appropriate view 20

21. School-Age Applications: Per Capita and Specific Student Excess cost applications are to be completed by the school district of attendance (educating district) which may submit either the Per Capita application or the Specific Student application (but not both) for any student. The excess cost application is to be used to calculate excess cost for nonresident pupils enrolled in classes for special education instruction of children with disabilities in accordance with Section 3323.14 of the Revised Code. The excess cost shall be charged to the legal district of residence (sending district) for such pupils. Excess cost may be charged for open enrollment, nonresident special education cooperatives, court placed, institutional placed and nonresident Title I students. No contract is required between the educating and the resident districts for court placed students. Contracts are required for all other students. Court-placed, institutional-placed and Title I (EMIS Status 1C, 1P, 1T, 1W) students should have been submitted on an SF-14H prior to submitting for excess cost, and the default for excess cost certification will be the total number of days the student was in attendance (days present + days excused absences + day unexcused absences). As a result, the excess cost certification will deduct the tuition that was paid (or should have been paid) for the total days in attendance. If an educating district did not file the SF- 14H for either or both of the first and second reporting periods, the SF-14H may be submitted after the excess cost submission, but since the original deadline was missed, the tuition will only be transferred from the resident district if that district approves the payment. Open enrolled and special education cooperative students were not included or permitted on the SF-14H but may be submitted for excess cost reimbursement. Include a copy of the signed contract. School districts providing special education to these disabled pupils and submitting excess cost applications are not to directly bill the financially responsible district. The adjustment will be made by the Office of School Finance by crediting the educating district and deducting the same amount from the resident district. 21

22. To create a student application you will need to import students using the “School-Age Spreadsheet” found on the ODE webpage. You MUST use this specific spreadsheet and the spreadsheet MUST be “Validated” in order for the students to load into the system. To upload this spreadsheet, start by pointing to the Student tab and clicking on New School Finance Application from the dropdown list. Creating New Excess Cost Applications for School-Age Students 22

23. The screen below will appear. Make sure the appropriate Application Period and Reporting LEA are selected. Then click on the Browse button to browse your computer. Next find and select the spreadsheet you want to upload then click Open. 23

24. Once the document is showing in the box, click Upload to upload students from spreadsheet. After processing is complete, the page below will appear. In the Upload Status box, the Total Students Uploaded and Records Processed should be equal if all applications were uploaded with no problems. The amount Records with data issues should be 0. If there are some that show Records with data issues, they will still be uploaded but with a status of Data Issue. 24

25. Reviewing New Applications To begin reviewing applications, users will first need to access the Search School Finance Application page. If you are not already on the application search page, click on the Search School Finance Application button in the Student dropdown. The search page is used to list student applications associated with the district and then select specific applications to view and/or edit. To view all student applications, click the Search button without entering any search criteria. 25

26. Below are the search results showing all applications for the district because no additional criteria were selected. Twenty applications will appear per page. At the bottom, use the Next, Previous and Go to buttons to navigate between pages. To view the details of a specific application, click the magnifying glass icon under the Details column. Applications can be filtered by entering specifics in any one of the available search criteria boxes such as SSID, Submission Date, Application Type, Application Status, etc. Districts can also search as the educating district or the resident district. To view applications based on specific criteria, select one or more of the search criteria before clicking Search. For example, to view only applications that have been placed into Submitted status by your district, selected Submitted from the available Excess Cost Statuses then click the Search button. All applications in Submitted status should then be listed. 26

27. Applications with status “Data Issue” When a district uploads an SSID into the excess cost system an application is created. The system checks for five conditions before giving the application a status of “Started”. 1.Is the SSID found in EMIS? 2.Is there a valid disability condition associated with the SSID? 3.Is there a valid EMIS placement code associated with the SSID? 4.Is the educating district IRN associated with the SSID in EMIS? 5.Is the resident district IRN associated with the SSID in EMIS? If the answer to any one of the above questions/conditions is no, the application will be given a “Data Issue” status and a fatal flag(s) will be attached to the application that describes the type of data issue(s) found. The following are the fatal flags: 1.Fatal – SSID not found in EMIS (This flag cannot be removed.) 2.Fatal – Valid disability condition not found in EMIS 3.Fatal - Invalid EMIS placement code 4.Fatal – Resident district or Educating district not associated with SSID in EMIS All applications with a “Data Issue” status should be either, withdrawn or corrected then started. Both districts and area coordinators have the ability to withdraw an application with a data issue. However, only the area coordinator can correct an application with a data issue and change its status to “Started”. 27

28. Screenshot of Uploaded Students with “Data Issues” 28

29. Applications with status “Data Issue” No application should remain in “Data Issue” status. Either withdraw the application or request assistance from your Area Coordinator to get the application into “Started” status. You will not be paid excess cost for any student remaining in “Data Issue” status. If the application was included on the spreadsheet by mistake, the application must be withdrawn. To withdraw the application, open the “Total Cost” tab and under the Heading “Actions”, click on the “Withdraw” button, which causes the “Actions” button to change to “Start”. However, you will be unable to proceed to submit the application because the flags are still there. If the correct student was on the spreadsheet but would not upload because of a data issue, check the application for flags. If you believe your data are accurate, reflect EMIS data, and the student is eligible for excess cost reimbursement, contact your Area Coordinator who may, at his/her discretion, remove the flags and place the application in “Started” status. The Area Coordinator may request evidence/documentation to support your request to change the application. 29

30. Total Cost Tab (Per Capita) After selecting the details of an application from the Application Search page, you are directed to the Total Cost tab shown below. This page contains the details of the total cost for a Per Capita student. All Application Types start as Per Capita as the default unless you change to Specific Student. All costs listed under Total Cost cannot be changed under the Per Capita application type. The costs are based on EMIS year end financial data. Per Capita student directions can be found starting on Slide (#?) 30

31. Application Tab (Per Capita) Contains student information such as Disability Condition, Funding Category, Grade Level, Legal District of Residency and Educating District information. If you believe any of the information on the Application Tab is incorrect, you need to request your area coordinator to change it. He/she may request documentation to support your request prior to making the change. The user may click the question mark icon to access contact information for the school districts and area coordinator. 31

32. Excess Cost Certification Tab (Per Capita) 32

33. Docs Tab (Per Capita) No documentation is required for Per Capita costs, but a copy of the contract between the educating district and the resident district should be attached for parent-placed into an institution, open enrolled and special education cooperative students. If you would like to add documentation, please see slides 46-53 for step-by-step instructions to add a document to an application. 33

34. Comments/History Tab (Per Capita) If there are any notes between the Resident/Educating Districts or Area Coordinator, they can be found in the Comments/History tab of the individual student application. 34

35. Total Cost Tab (Specific Student) After selecting the details of an application from the Application Search page, you are directed to the Total Cost tab shown below. All applications start as a Per Capita application tab unless changed to Specific Student. To change to Specific Student, click the pencil beside Application Type and select Specific Student. Be sure to click the green check mark after selecting type to change. Once you click the green check mark, a box will appear that asks if you are sure you want to change the application type. Click YES to confirm and the application will be changed. 35

36. Once the application type has been changed to Specific Student, the Total Cost can now be edited by clicking the pencil icon. 36

37. After clicking the pencil icon, the box below comes up to change any of the costs or ADM for the different types of cost. After changing the costs, click the Update button to make changes or click Cancel if you choose not to change them. 37

38. Details for Submitting Total Costs District has the ability to change total cost and ADM for the following cost items: o Special education teacher costs o Instructional supply and material costs o Instructional equipment costs District cannot change the following per capita costs. o Regular education teacher costs – the per capita cost applies to both the per capita and specific student application. o Administration costs – the per capita cost applies to both the per capita and specific student application. o Operational support costs – if district adds transportation as a related service the per capita amount will be zeroed out. o Pupil support costs – if districts add related services costs other than transportation, the per capita amount will be zeroed out. o Staff support costs – the per capita cost applies to both the per capita and specific student application. District can also add contracted educational program costs o If districts add contracted education program costs, all per capita costs will be zeroed out except administration. If contracted service cost are included the system will not permit a district to enter separate related services costs. o Any related service cost must be included in the contract cost; documentation should be added for contract and related service costs. o If a student receives educational services for part of the year from school district staff and part of the year as a contracted services from an educational provider, both types of services must be reported as a contract service. Support documentation must be attached for both types of services. 38

39. Related services costs must be in one of the following categories: o Transportation o Occupational therapy o Physical therapy o Speech language o Other If adding related service costs (other than transportation), the per capita pupil support cost will be zeroed out. If deleting the related service cost, per capita pupil support amount returns. If adding transportation costs as related service, the per capita operation support cost will be zeroed out and the system will ask for number of days transported. If deleting the transportation as related service cost, the per capita operations support amount returns. For specific student applications, the regular education teacher costs are multiplied by the percent of time in regular classroom. (Default value is 0%). Days enrolled is calculated using EMIS data o Days Enrolled = Attendance Days + Excused Absences + Unexcused Absences District has the ability to change the following additional data elements impacting total cost and/or the certification. o Percent of time in regular classroom (initially defaults to 0%) o Number of days transported (initially defaults to zero) 39

40. The reported costs column will change from green (EFM data) to blue (your actual costs) when any changes are made to the costs. (See line 3 below for example) 40

41. To add related service costs, you must click the Add Related Service Expense button. Once the button is clicked, a new window opens to add costs. Selected the Related Service you would like to add and then enter the cost. When finished, click Add. When you return to the Total Cost tab, line 10 shows the related services added and it is also shown in the Related Service Costs box. Beside each cost, you can click the pencil to Update the cost and the trash bin icon to delete if needed. 41

42. Application Tab (Specific Student) Contains student information such as Disability Condition, Funding Category, Grade Level, Legal District of Residency and Educating District information. This information is not editable by the educating district. You must request your area coordinator to change any information. The user may click the question mark icon to access contact information for the school districts and area coordinator. 42

43. Excess Cost Certification (Specific Student) for 1C, 1P, 1T, 1W Statuses 43

44. Excess Cost Certification (Specific Student) for 19 44

45. Excess Cost Certification (Specific Student) for 1B 45

46. Docs Tab (Specific Student) This tab is used to attach, view and manage supporting documentation for the excess costs reported. Documentation supporting all expenses except EFM costs must accompany the student application. This may be accomplished by either attaching a document to each line item that contains costs (line item document), attaching a single document that supports all line item costs (multiple line item document), or some combination of the two. To begin, select the document type you want to attach from the choices in the yellow box on the left. 46

47. After choosing the document type, the document upload screen below will pop up. In this example, the Multiple Line Item document type was selected. Click on the browse button to find the location of the multiple line document previously scanned to your computer. Once the document is located, click on Open. 47

48. If you choose, you can give the document a more meaningful name using the file name textbox underneath the file location. When finished click on the Upload button. After the document has been uploaded the window below will appear. Close the window and click on the refresh button on the docs tab. The document you just uploaded will be shown on the docs tab. 48

49. Important! In order to complete and successfully submit an application, there must be a line item document attached for each line item in which costs are reported or at least one Multiple Line Item Document. Once a document is uploaded, you may view the document, delete the document, or export the document to multiple students. 49

50. Export Document for Multiple Students Click on the export icon under U on the Docs tab. This will bring up the following window: The window will automatically bring up all students in the system for your district (in this case, 47 students). The window will only show 20 students at a time. If your district has more than 20 students, you will be able to click Next to view the next 20 students. You can also narrow your search of students by entering a specific SSID or school building then click Search. 50

51. You can select any student(s) from the list and click Upload. This will upload the document to all the selected students. This is a good way to attach a single document that supports the costs incurred by several students such as a service contract or documentation of a teacher’s salary and benefits who serves more than one student incurring excess cost. After clicking Upload, all students selected will now have the document on their list of supporting documents. 51

52. Import Documents from Other Students Another option for sharing supporting documents is to import documents from other student files. After opening a student application, go to the Docs tab. The document import button can be found under the yellow list of document types. (Illustrated by the arrow below) 52

53. Once you click Import from other students the box below will pop up. Click the box under Select to Import column to select the documents you would like to add to this particular student and then click Submit. Once you click Submit, the document(s) will appear in the list of documentation for that particular student. Once all tabs have been edited and documents have been attached to the student file, the application is ready to submit to the Resident District. 53

54. Submitting Applications A user with an Excess Cost Data Entry role in OEDS does not have permission to Submit the excess cost application. Instead, “Data Entry” users can update the status of the application to District Reviewed which indicates the application is ready for the superintendent or treasurer to review. This is done by clicking on the Total Cost tab and clicking the District Reviewed button. Documents with a status of District Reviewed indicates to the treasurer or superintendent that the application is ready for them to review and submit the application. 54

55. TREASURER AND SUPERINTENDENT ROLES Treasurers or superintendents can Submit an application that is in the Started or District Reviewed status. It is not necessary for both superintendent and treasurer to submit an application. By submitting an Excess Cost application, the superintendent or treasurer is certifying that to the best of his/her knowledge the student meets the program’s eligibility criteria and that the reported costs are legitimate and accurate. To submit the application, go to the Total Cost tab and click the Submit button. Each student application must be submitted separately; applications cannot be submitted in bulk. 55

56. Once an application has been submitted, the status will change to Submitted as shown below along with the Auto Approve Date. The date/time stamp will also be added to the History box at the bottom of the page. Once submitted you will see a date under the Auto Approve Date heading. This date is 30 calendar days after the date of submission and is the date on which the application will be automatically approved for payment unless the application is in Correction Needed or ODE On Hold status. 56

57. Resident District What happens after an application has been submitted by the educating district? At the end of each day, the resident district will receive a batch email that lists all the SSIDs of applications that were submitted or resubmitted that day. The resident district reviews the submitted applications and has four choices: 1.Approve the application which changes status to “Approved” 2.Return application for correction which changes status to “Correction Needed” 3.Do nothing (if the resident district does not act within 30 days of application being submitted, the system will automatically approve the application) 4.Put application “ODE On Hold”. 57

58. Application ready to be “Approved” by Resident District Only persons with superintendent or treasurer role will be able to approve applications. Data Entry role can not. If the resident district agrees with the application, either the superintendent or treasurer must go into the individual application and click “Approve” on the Total Cost tab. 58

59. Application changed by Resident District to “Correction Needed” Only persons with superintendent or treasurer role will be able to return applications. Data entry role cannot return an application to the educating district. If the resident district does not agree with something submitted on the excess cost application, it can change the status to “Correction Needed”. A comment must be included when a resident district returns application. Note: If a Per Capita student is submitted by the educating district, when the district of residence reviews the submission, “Needs Correction” can not be applied to total cost, certification or documents. At the end of the day, the educating entity will get a bulk email listing the SSIDs of all applications that were returned for correction. To change to “Correction Needed” status, you must click on the “Correction Needed” button on the Total Cost tab. 59

60. What if the resident district does nothing with a submitted application? If resident district does not act within 30 days of application being submitted, the system will automatically approve the application. Applications have an “original submission date” on them. District will know that 30 days after this date, the application will automatically be approved unless put “ODE On hold” or “Correction Needed” Resident district will receive an email 10 days and 5 days prior to the system automatically approving an application. 60

61. Application changed to “ODE On Hold” An application should only be put “ODE On Hold” when either the educating district or resident district requests assistance from the Area Coordinator. In order to put an application on hold, the district must comment as to why. When application is put on hold, the area coordinator and educating district will get an email notification. Only the area coordinator can approve or return applications put on hold but will need to include a comment. Area coordinator will have the ability to edit the application tab before approving or returning for correction, but only the educating district can change costs. 61

62. Educating District reviews application returned by the Resident District The educating district is encouraged to work with the resident district to resolve any concerns/issues with the application but may also contact its Area Coordinator for assistance. Educating district may edit and attach supporting documents to returned applications but must resubmit the application to be paid. Resubmitting an application will change the status to “Resubmitted”. SSIDs of resubmitted applications will be included in the batch email sent to the resident district daily. Resubmitted applications must be approved by the resident district in order for the payment to be processed. Any resubmitted applications not approved after the 30 day auto approved date will be placed into “ODE On Hold” status. Educating district will have the ability to put an application on hold until issues are resolved. Educating district also will have the ability to withdraw the application. 62

63. Returned Application being Resubmitted If a returned application is resubmitted, the resident district has the same four choices as before. Within the “30 day window”, applications can be returned and resubmitted any number of times Any application with “correction needed” status will be put on hold 30 days after the initial submission date. Any application resubmitted and not approved by the resident district will be put ODE on Hold after the 30 th day from the original submission date. ***Bottom Line: After 30 days from the initial submission date, all applications should be either approved or put on hold.*** 63

64. JVSD and DD Excess Costs and Preschool Tuition Manual 64

65. Excel Spreadsheet for Preschool, JVSD and DD Students The spreadsheet can be found on the ODE website http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/School- Choice/Public-Schools/Forms-and-Program-Information-for-Traditional-Publhttp://education.ohio.gov/Topics/School- Choice/Public-Schools/Forms-and-Program-Information-for-Traditional-Publ When opening the spreadsheet, be sure to click “Enable Content” After entering student data, you must Validate the spreadsheet by clicking on the instructions tab and then clicking the Validate Excess Costs button. After clicking the Validate Excess Costs button, if the word “Validated” turns green then your spreadsheet is fine. If it turns red, check the instructions on the instruction tab to troubleshoot the data on your spreadsheet. Be sure to name and save your spreadsheet to a location on your computer so that you will be able to find it when you upload the spreadsheet into the program online. 65

66. Accessing the Excess Cost Program LOGGING ON THROUGH THE SAFE ACCOUNT Users can access the online Excess Cost Program through ODE’s Web-secure portal known as SAFE (Secure Applications for Enterprise). Users can enter SAFE through the SAFE link located at the top of the ODE Home Page. [Note: Users must have already set up a SAFE account prior to being able to sign in. Superintendents and Treasurers will automatically have access to the program. Another role that can be assigned is Excess Cost Data Entry. After clicking the SAFE link, the user should be on a screen with the box shown below. Enter SAFE user name and password, and then lick the Sign In button. 66

67. Next select the School Finance link from the list of web systems shown. 67

68. Click the Excess Cost box to select the Excess Cost Program When you enter the system it will take you to the School Finance Application Search screen shown below. If you are linked to more than one district in OEDS, you will be asked to select a district. Select appropriate view 68

69. Non School-Age Spreadsheet This spreadsheet will be used for applications to report Preschool, JVS, and DD Students 69

70. Preschool, JVSD and DD Instructions 70

71. Preschool In previous years preschool excess cost has been charged pursuant to RC 3323.14, but that section of the Revised Code only applies to school aged students. A school district or DD educating a nonresident preschool child may charge tuition to the district of residence pursuant to RC 3317.08(B), which prescribes how tuition is to be calculated. Since the calculation is similar to that used for calculating excess cost, preschool tuition will remain a part of the submission process for excess cost but will be referred to as tuition. In order for total cost to be calculated correctly, preschool students must be reported by FTE not head count. If a student is enrolled in a preschool program for the entire year, the FTE is.5 not 1.0. The educating district and resident district are encouraged to execute a contract prior to the initiating of special education services. School districts and DD’s providing education to preschool nonresident pupils with disabilities are to directly bill the district of residence after the application has been approved. There is no provision in the Revised Code permitting a transfer of preschool tuition in the Statement of Settlement. 71

72. JVSD An excess cost application may be submitted by the JVSD that has provided educational services to resident district or community school students with disabilities pursuant to RC 3317.16(C), which states: (1) For each student with a disability receiving special education and related services under an individualized education program, as defined in section 3323.01 of the Revised Code, at a joint vocational district, the resident district or, if the student is enrolled in a community school, the community school shall be responsible for the amount of any costs of providing those special education and related services to that student that exceed the sum of the amount calculated for those services attributable to that student under division (A) of this section. The excess cost shall be charged to the resident district as defined in 3317.16(G)(2) (i.e., The district the child is entitled to attend under section 3313.64 and 3313.65 of the Revised Code) or community schools as defined in section 3317.16(G)(1) (i.e., Community schools established under Chapter 3314 of the Revised Code). Excess cost for students with disabilities attending a JVSD through open enrollment will be charged to the district of residence of the child’s parents. A contract should be executed between the JVSD and the resident district or community school prior to initiating special education services. After the excess cost application is approved, JVSD’s providing educational services to pupils with disabilities are to directly bill the financially responsible district or community school. 72

73. DD An excess cost application may be submitted by a DD providing educational services to nonresident students with disabilities pursuant to Section 3323.14 and 3323.142 of the Revised Code. Excess cost may be charged by a DD only under the circumstances described in Section 3323.142 of the Revised Code, which states: When a school district places or has placed a child with a county DD board for special education, but another district is responsible for tuition under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code and the child is not a resident of the territory served by the county DD board, the board may charge the district responsible for tuition with the educational costs in excess of the per pupil amount received by the board under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code. The contract should be executed between the educating DD and the district of residence prior to initiating educational services. After the excess cost application has been approved, the educating DD must directly bill the financially responsible district. 73

74. Accessing the Excess Cost Program LOGGING ON THROUGH THE SAFE ACCOUNT Users can access the online Excess Cost Program through ODE’s Web-secure portal known as SAFE (Secure Applications for Enterprise). Users can enter SAFE through the SAFE link located at the top of the ODE Home Page. [Note: Users must have already set up a SAFE account prior to being able to sign in. Superintendents and Treasurers will automatically have access to the program. Another role that can be assigned is Excess Cost Data Entry. After clicking the SAFE link, the user should be on a screen with the box shown below. Enter SAFE user name and password, and then lick the Sign In button. 74

75. Next select the School Finance link from the list of web systems shown. 75

76. Click the Excess Cost box to select the Excess Cost Program When you enter the system it will take you to the School Finance Application Search screen shown below. If you are linked to more than one district in OEDS, you will be asked to select a district. Select appropriate view 76

77. Creating New Excess Cost Applications for Preschool, JVSD and DD Students To create a student application you will need to import students using the “Non School- Age Student Upload Spreadsheet” found on the ODE webpage. You MUST use this specific spreadsheet and the spreadsheet MUST be “Validated” in order for the students to load into the system. To upload this spreadsheet, start by pointing to the Student tab and clicking on New School Finance Application from the dropdown list. 77

78. The screen below will appear. Make sure the appropriate Application Period and Reporting LEA are selected. Then click on the Browse button to browse your computer. Next find and select the spreadsheet you want to upload then click Open. 78

79. Once the document is showing in the box, click Upload to upload students from spreadsheet. After processing is complete, the page below will appear. In the Uploaded Status box, the amount Not Processed should be 0. If there are some that show Not Processed, they will still be uploaded but with a status of Data Issue. 79

80. Reviewing New Applications To begin reviewing applications, users will first need to access the Search School Finance Application page. If you are not already on the application search page, click on the Search School Finance Application button in the Student dropdown. The search page is used to list student applications associated with the district and then select specific applications to view and/or edit. To view all student applications, click the Search button without entering any search criteria. If you have any school age students, these applications will show as well. For example, search by Application Type and select Preschool to search for only Preschool students. 80

81. Below are the search results showing all preschool applications for the district. To view the details of a specific application, click the magnifying glass icon under the Details column. Applications can be filtered by entering specifics in any one of the available search criteria boxes such as SSID, Submission Date, Application Type, Application Status, etc. Districts can also search as the educating district or the resident district. To view applications based on specific criteria, select one or more of the search criteria before clicking Search. 81

82. Applications with status “Data Issue” No application should remain in “Data Issue” status. Either withdraw the application or request assistance from your Area Coordinator to get the application into “Started” status. You will not be paid excess cost for any student remaining in “Data Issue” status. If the application was included on the spreadsheet by mistake, the application must be withdrawn. To withdraw the application, open the “Total Cost” tab and under the Heading “Actions”, click on the “Withdraw” button, which causes the “Actions” button to change to “Start”. However, you will be unable to proceed to submit the application because the flags are still there. If the correct student was on the spreadsheet but would not upload because of a data issue, check the application for flags. If you believe your data are accurate, reflect EMIS data, and the student is eligible for excess cost reimbursement, contact your Area Coordinator who may, at his/her discretion, remove the flags and place the application in “Started” status. The Area Coordinator may request evidence/documentation to support your request to change the application. 82

83. Total Cost Tab (Preschool, JVSD, DD) After selecting the details of an application from the Application Search page, you are directed to the Total Cost tab shown below. This page contains the details of the total cost reported on the Non School-Age spreadsheet. The Total Cost can be edited by clicking the pencil icon. The Related Service Costs can also be edited by clicking the pencil icon. They can be deleted by clicking the trash bin icon and more expenses can be added by clicking the Add Related Service Expense button. 83

84. After clicking the pencil icon to change the Total Costs, the box below comes up to change any of the costs previously entered into the spreadsheet. After changing any costs, click the Update button to make changes or click Cancel if you choose not to change them. See notes above 84

85. To add related service costs, you must click the Add Related Service Expense button. Once the button is clicked, a new window opens to add costs. Select the Related Service you would like to add and then enter the cost. When finished, click Add. When you return to the Total Cost tab, line 10 shows the related services added and it is also shown in the Related Service Costs box. Beside each cost, you can click the pencil to Update the cost and the trash bin icon to delete if needed. 85

86. Application Tab (Preschool, JVSD, DD) Contains student information such as Disability Condition, Funding Category, Grade Level, Legal District of Residency and Educating District information. If you believe any of the information on the Application Tab is incorrect, you need to request your area coordinator to change it. He/she may request documentation to support your request prior to making the change. The user may click the question mark icon to access contact information for the school districts and area coordinator. 86

87. Excess Cost Certification (Preschool) 87

88. Excess Cost Certification (JVSD) 88

89. Excess Cost Certification (DD) 89

90. Docs Tab (Preschool, JVSD, DD) This tab is used to attach, view and manage supporting documentation for the excess costs reported. Documentation supporting all expenses must accompany the student application. This may be accomplished by either attaching a document to each line item that contain costs (line item document), attaching a single document that supports all line item costs (multiple line item document), or some combination of the two. To begin, select the document type you want to attach from the choices in the yellow box on the left. 90

91. After choosing the document type, the document upload screen below will pop up. In this example, the Special Education Teacher Salary & Benefits Costs document type was selected. Click on the browse button to find the location of the special education teacher salary and benefits costs document previously scanned to your computer. Once the document is located, click on Open. 91

92. If you choose, you can give the document a more meaningful name using the file name textbox underneath the file location. Otherwise, the default will be the filename. When finished click on the Upload button. After the document has been uploaded the window below will appear. Close the window and click on the refresh button on the docs tab. The document you just uploaded will be shown on the docs tab. 92

93. Important! In order to complete and successfully submit an application, there must be a line item document attached for each line item in which costs are reported or at least one Multiple Line Item Document. Once a document is uploaded, you may view the document, delete the document, or export the document to multiple students. 93

94. Export Documents for Multiple Students Click on the export icon under U on the Docs tab. This will bring up the following window: The window will automatically bring up all students in the system for your district (in this case, 27 students). The window will only show 20 students at a time. If your district has more than 20 students, you will be able to click Next to view the next 20 students. You can also narrow your search of students by entering a specific SSID or school building then click Search. 94

95. You can select any student(s) from the list and click Upload. This will upload the document to all the selected students. This is a good way to attach a single document that supports the costs incurred by several students such as a service contract or documentation of a teacher’s salary and benefits who serves more than one student incurring excess cost. After clicking Upload, all students selected will now have the document on their list of supporting documents. 95

96. Import Documents from Other Students Another option for sharing supporting documents is to import documents from other student files. After opening a student application, go to the Docs tab. The document import button can be found under the yellow list of document types. (Illustrated by the arrow below) 96

97. Once you click Import from other students the box below will pop up. Click the box under Select to Import column to select the documents you would like to add to this particular student and then click Submit. Once you click Submit, the document(s) will appear in the list of documentation for that particular student. Once all tabs have been edited and documents have been attached to the student file, the application is ready to submit to the Resident District. 97

98. Submitting Applications DATA ENTRY ROLE ONLY A user with an Excess Cost Data Entry role in OEDS does not have permission to Submit the excess cost application. Instead, “Data Entry” users can update the status of the application to Educating District Reviewed which indicates the application is ready for the superintendent or treasurer to review. This is done by clicking on the Total Cost tab and clicking the Educating District Reviewed button. Documents with a status of Educating District Reviewed indicates to the treasurer or superintendent that the application is ready for them to review and submit the application. 98

99. TREASURER AND SUPERINTENDENT ROLES Treasurers or superintendents can Submit an application that is in the Started or Educating District Reviewed status. By submitting an Excess Cost application, the superintendent or treasurer is certifying that to the best of his/her knowledge the student meets the program’s eligibility criteria and that the reported costs are legitimate and accurate. To submit the application, go to the Total Cost tab and click the Submit button. Each student application must be submitted separately; applications cannot be submitted in bulk. 99

100. Once an application has been submitted, the status will change to Submitted as shown below along with the Auto Approve Date. The date/time stamp will also be added to the History box at the bottom of the page. Once submitted you will see a date under the Auto Approve Date heading. This date is 30 calendar days after the date of submission and is the date on which the application will be automatically approved unless the application is in Correction Needed or ODE On Hold status. 100

101. Resident District What happens after an application has been submitted by the educating district? At the end of each day, the resident district will receive a batch email that lists all the SSIDs of applications that were submitted or resubmitted that day. The resident district reviews the submitted applications and has four choices: 1.Approve the application which changes status to “Approved” 2.Return application for correction which changes status to “Correction Needed” 3.Do nothing (if the resident district does not act within 30 days of application being submitted, the system will automatically approve the application) 4.Put application “ODE On Hold”. 101

102. Application ready to be “Approved” Only persons with superintendent or treasurer role will be able to approve applications. Data Entry role can not. If the resident district agrees with the application, it will go into the individual application and click “Approve” on the Total Cost tab. 102

103. Application changed to “Correction Needed” Only persons with superintendent or treasurer role will be able to return applications. Data entry/reviewer can not. If the resident district does not agree with something submitted on the excess cost application, it can change the status to “Correction Needed”. A comment must be included when a resident district returns application. Note: if a per capita student is submitted by the educating district, when the district of residence reviews the submission, “Needs Correction” can not be applied to total cost, certification or documents. At the end of the day, the educating entity will get a bulk email listing the SSIDs of all applications that were returned for correction. To change to “Correction Needed” status, you must click on the “Correction Needed” button on the Total Cost tab. 103

104. What if the resident district does nothing with a submitted application? If resident district does not act within 30 days of application being submitted, the system will automatically approve the application. Applications have an “original submission date” on them. A district will know that 30 days after this date, the application will automatically be approved unless put “ODE On hold” or “Correction Needed” Resident district will receive an email 10 days and 5 days prior to the system automatically approving an application. 104

105. Application changed to “ODE On Hold” An application should only be put “ODE On Hold” when either the educating district or resident district requests assistance from the Area Coordinator. In order to put an application on hold, the district must comment as to why. When application is put on hold, the area coordinator and educating district will get an email notification. Only the area coordinator can approve or return applications put on hold but will need to include a comment. Area coordinator will have the ability to edit the application tab before approving or returning for correction, but only the educating district can change costs. 105

106. Educating District reviews application returned by the Resident District The educating district is encouraged to work with the resident district to resolve any concerns/issues with the application but may also contact its Area Coordinator for assistance. Educating district may edit and attach supporting documents to returned applications but must resubmit the application to be paid. Resubmitting an application will change the status to “Resubmitted”. SSIDs of resubmitted applications will be included in the batch email sent to the resident district daily. Resubmitted applications not approved by the resident district within 30 days after the original date of submission will be put on “ODE On Hold” status. Educating district will have the ability to put an application on hold until issues are resolved. Educating district also will have the ability to withdraw the application. 106

107. Returned Application being Resubmitted If a returned application is resubmitted, the resident district has the same four choices as before. Within the “30 day window”, applications can be returned and resubmitted any number of times Any application with “correction needed” status will be put on hold 30 days after the initial submission date. Any application resubmitted and not approved by the resident district will be put on ODE on Hold thirty days after the date of original submission. ***Bottom Line: After 30 days from the initial submission date, all applications should be either approved or put on hold.*** 107