Lassen County Board of Education

LASSEN COUNTY SPECIAL EDUCATION LOCAL PLAN AREA (SELPA) OPERATING GUIDE (SOG)

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Historically, the majority of the school districts in Lassen County have utilized Special Education Staff provided by the Lassen County Office of Education (LCOE). Three districts- Lassen Union High School District, Janesville Union School District and Susanville School District- provided their own staffing for the majority of the needs on their respective campuses. With the adoption of the Single-Program Operator (SPO) in 2004, an attempt was made to bring all districts together under one common Program Operator, the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). The LCOE acts as the Administrative Unit for the SELPA. A fundamental belief existed that the three districts operating their own programs would (through attrition) turn their special education positions over to the SELPA and eventually all Special Education positions would belong to their SELPA as the one, Single Program Operator. The adopted SPO Guidelines provided clarification as to vacated positions, bumping rights and reimbursements to the three districts until such times as they turned their positions over to the SELPA. Additionally, the guidelines dictated how the districts would communicate with the SELPA regarding positions (whether vacant or filled) that were to be turned over to the SELPA.

It was recognized in the SPO guidelines that it may take several years before all positions that belonged to the three districts, would be turned over to the SELPA. As time went by and budgets became strained, some of the districts found that their collective bargaining units were resistant to losing the membership of their RSP teachers to the SELPA. As this unit work is a negotiable item, it became understandable that some of the positions might not be shifted as previously anticipated.

The newly adopted SPO Guidelines that follow are a complete re-write of the original plan; the formatting has been modified as well as contents. The newly adopted guidelines will feature a new name as well: The SELPA Operating Guide (SOG). The new plan features six sections (History; Administration; Planning; Staffing; Financial; and Program Transfers) that delineate specific program parameters for the SELPA as a Program Operator. All historical changes will continue to be preserved in previous versions of the Single Program Operator & Allocation Formula Descriptions in files at the Lassen County Office of Education.

1. ADMINISTRATION

A. The SELPA Administrative Unit (AU) will continue to be funded by the Regionalized Services/Program Specialist Allocation portion of the AB 602 funding. Any unexpended portion of these funds will be specifically treated as revenue for other Regionalized Services/Program Specialist services. The AU will consist of a SELPA Director/Special Education Director and a Special Education Administrative Assistant.

B. The LCOE will continue to operate as the AU. Starting in December 2008, and every four years following, the Administrative Council will take action to confirm the continuance or change to the AU, following the voting structure described in Article 5.4 of the Administrative Council By-laws.

C. Facilities for all special education programs site based and itinerant (RSP, SDC, Speech, Psychologists, Adaptive PE, and Occupational Therapy) will be the responsibility of the local District. District responsibilities will include all utilities, phone, Internet, equipment, custodial, maintenance, etc. Classrooms shall meet minimum square foot requirements and receive support equivalent to other classrooms on the campus.

D. LCOE special education facilities on district sites will continue to be available to house special education programs. All utilities, phone, internet, equipment, custodial, maintenance, etc. will be the responsibility of LCOE for LCOE facilities. SELPA/SELPA Operating Guide/Final.SELPA Operating Guide 1 E. Administrative Support on District Sites - On-site administrators will be responsible for the conduct of county staff at their site. District administrators will be the first line of contact, if the situation does not improve, contact the county office administration for support.

F. The Administrative Unit (AU) will be responsible for evaluating county employees as set forth in the bargaining unit contracts. AU will contact site Administrators each Fall to inform site of evaluation cycle for the current year. Site Administrators will be asked to contribute to certificated, classified, and itinerant staff evaluations. If a site administrator is concerned about the performance of a county SELPA employee, they should contact AU and a joint plan will be made to address the concern.

G. Site Administrators will meet with teachers who evaluate classified employees to review and sign the evaluation prior to the teacher’s meeting with the evaluatee.

H. County SELPA staff expectations on District Sites- All county staff will consider themselves part of the school to which they are assigned. - Team Player – All staff should maintain a positive demeanor in keeping with the expectations of the site. All staff should consider themselves an intricate part of the team.

- Staff Meetings – Teachers attendance at district staff meetings will have a positive impact and increase contact time with general education teachers.

- Paperwork - All county staff will provide any paperwork to administration that is required of employees at their site (lesson plans, daily schedules, grades, progress reports, etc.)

- Punctuality – County SELPA staff calendar days and start and end times are consistent with the school where you are assigned. Itinerant staff schedules are based on the schedule set with Lassen County Office of Education at the beginning of the school year.

- Delivery of Services – Teachers will use state adopted curriculum as the first choice for remediating skills.

I. A plan will be developed and approved each Spring by the Administrative Council for staff development for both certificated and classified staff. District support to special education staff through local staff development activities and funds should be considered first in conjunction with the plan. The SELPA receives limited staff development funds which are primarily used to support SELPA-wide staff.

J. Substitutes for any site based special education program staff shall be requested, authorized, and arranged for by the District. Substitutes for SELPA-Wide Programs (Steps-to-Success, Moderate/Severe, Preschool) will be requested, authorized, and arranged for by the SELPA, unless mutually agreed to by a district. County will provide names, hours, and pay rates of employees on their campus, to the districts at the beginning of the school year. The costs for those substitutes are acceptable expenses to be paid by the SELPA.

2. PLANNING

A. The Administrative Council shall consider the following in establishing the SELPA Staffing Plan:

- SELPA Board members’ recommendations - SELPA Director/Special Education Director’s recommendations - Pupil Count History for that school - Ability to maintain or attract qualified staff SELPA/SELPA Operating Guide/Final.SELPA Operating Guide 2 B. Program Operators that expect to employ special education staff (certificated or classified), in approved Staffing Plan positions, shall submit the Program Operator Projection Worksheet (provided by LCOE) to LCOE for the current fiscal year by January 31st and for the upcoming fiscal year by May 1st . The worksheet shall include up to date budget information for the program operator’s salaries, benefit costs, supplies, services, and special education ADA revenue limit funds generated by the program operator. Information provided in this format will allow LCOE to revise all SELPA expenditure and bill back projections throughout the fiscal year. Program Operators will be reimbursed for items submitted on May 1 and approved by the Administrative Council through a majority vote.

3. STAFFING

A. No later than January of each year, the SELPA Director will present to the Administrative Council a Draft Staffing Plan for the succeeding year, with recommendations for any changes to services and staffing. The Administrative Council shall take action no later than the end of February.

B. Based upon the proposed Staffing Plan, the SELPA Director and LCOE Business Services shall prepare a proposed personnel cost (with estimated revenues and expenditures) for the Administrative Council to consider. The Administrative Council will take action on the final Staffing Plan, considering personnel costs, at its February meeting.

C. The Administrative Council will consider District Superintendents, Charter School Directors, SELPA Director recommendations, and the guidelines listed below to determine the Special Education support to be provided for each Special Education caseload, regardless, of who employs the staff. Paraeducator positions will be reported to the SELPA board at mid-year for review. RSP Teacher Caseload Paraeducators 21 + = 1 FTE Less than 15 pupils = no Paraeducator 15-20 pupils = one 3.9 hour per day Paraeducator 21+ pupils = two 3.9 hour per day Paraeducators

(See Lassen County Superintendent of Schools Special Teachers’ Association Contract for further maximum caseloads.)

D. Any local district decision to assign other duties, i.e. secretary, RtI, other general education duties to staff shall do so within the staffing FTE allocation to the District, shown above.

E. Additional Aide Support will continue to be provided, separate from the base Paraeducator program support, when determined to be a necessary service by IEP teams who have considered SELPA policy regarding Aide Support Guidelines additional aide support for preschoolers moving to kindergarten will be determined at the IEP transition meeting without the required completion of the Additional Aide Support Packet.

F. If a district chooses to retain staff beyond the approved SELPA staffing allocation above they can do at the districts expense.

4. FINANCIAL

A. Revenues for the SELPA shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

- State and Federal allocations, including any grants received - Special Education’s portion of local property taxes - Special Education revenue limit funds - General Fund Contributions from districts, when required

SELPA/SELPA Operating Guide/Final.SELPA Operating Guide 3 B. Special education funds allocated to Program Operators for special education staff and services they continue to provide, will be treated as pass-through monies by the LCOE and will not generate Indirect Cost Charges for the LCOE, but will be allowed to generate Indirect Cost Charges for each district. The Indirect Cost Charges shall be a part of the District’s calculated expense to the SELPA. The Indirect Cost Charges shall be the state calculated rate, or six percent, whichever is less. As the staffing and funding responsibilities shift from the Districts to the LCOE, so will the Indirect Cost Charges.

C. Special Education Average Daily Attendance (ADA) will be collected and reported by Program Operators at the end of P-1, P-2, and Annual. Monthly attendance reports will be sent to the District of Residence from LCOE. Funding will be balanced at the end-of-year by justifying the percentage of time the student is in special education placement from the IEP minutes generated by IEP goals. The amount of special education revenue limit funds generated by all entities will be considered part of the total SELPA revenues.

D. When a special education certificated or classified position becomes “vacant,” the employing District must then determine if that position will be retained by the District, or if the position will be transferred to the SELPA. Should the employing District decide to retain the certificated or classified position, the employing District will be reimbursed for the full cost based on the districts salary, including fixed cost rate and benefits.

E. Program Operators will be reimbursed only for items listed in the Program Operator Projection Worksheet submitted on May 1, unless approved by a majority vote of the Administrative Council.

F. Any agreements negotiated by districts for added compensation are the responsibility of that district and are not reimbursed by the SELPA.

G. Mileage for any approved travel will be reimbursed at the rate established by the employing District or the County Office.

H. The LCOE shall transfer monthly through March 30th the proportionate amount of special education funds received, to Program Operators based upon the approved expenditures each district has and the amount of funding apportioned to the SELPA. Revenues and expenditures shall be reconciled when the books are closed. Any unexpended funds will be returned to the SELPA Reserve.

I. Costs for any Non-Public School (NPS) or State Special School for the Deaf and Blind placements shall be split 50/50 between the District and the SELPA, with a $30,000 maximum that any district would have to pay in any year, regardless of the number of NPS placements. Ongoing NPS placements shall be an annually budgeted SELPA expense for the SELPA portion of the placement costs. The SELPA expense for new NPS placements shall come from the SELPA Reserve. Any district may request relief from the Administrative Council based upon their financial need.

J. The LCOE Business Services shall maintain a SELPA general reserve and any other reserves established by the Administrative Council. Each year, when the SELPA Budget Plan is approved, the Administrative Council shall set the minimum amount to be maintained in each of the reserves. If the reserve does not or will not contain the minimum amount set for the next fiscal year, then an amount will be added to the districts or charters general fund contributions to the SELPA to meet the reserve requirement.

K. When the expenses to operate the special education programs/services exceed the revenues, districts will have to make a General Fund Contribution (GFC) to balance the budget. When the Administrative Council approves the SELPA Budget, the SELPA Director and LCOE Business Services will provide estimates, if needed, of the GFC each district will need to make for the next fiscal year. When a GFC is needed each district will provide its GFC as follows:

SELPA/SELPA Operating Guide/Final.SELPA Operating Guide 4  Each district, independent charter schools, and the LCOE will contribute a flat $1000 toward the deficit;  The balance of the GFC will be a per special education student calculation, where the total number of special education students, by district of residence, from the December 1 Pupil Count from the prior year will be used to divide into the remaining needed GFC. This will generate a per special education student dollar figure which will be multiplied times the number of special education students in each district’s December 1 Pupil Count.  Each November the Special Education Administrative Assistant will review each LEA’s special education students in the Special Education Information System (SEIS) to ensure the District of Residence (DOR) is accurate in preparation for the December 1 count. Each LEA will receive a list of Case Managers with their students based on DOR via email to be reviewed and corrected. If the Superintendent or Director finds inaccurate information they will contact the SELPA office with the correction. The determination for the DOR is the LEA receiving the apportionment for those students.  District of Residence is determined by the student’s physical address (excluding charters). An approved inter-district agreement transfers the District of Residence and all financial responsibility to the receiving district.  Infants and preschoolers are linked to the elementary districts; students up to age 22 who are still enrolled are linked to their high school districts. Charter school students are linked to their chartering district.  Estimates will be given to districts, for budgeting purposes, in the spring before the year in which the deficit is anticipated, or as soon as practical, if a mid-year deficit is determined. The estimated GFC will be included in the Master Agreement Process. Actuals will be calculated at the closing of the books based upon the actual deficit and the December Pupil Count for the year the deficit is incurred.

5. PROGRAM TRANSFERS

A. LEAs may operate special education programs and services provided that they can demonstrate that programs and services to students will be provided at a high standard and that fiscal solvency can be maintained.

B. In the event a participating member of the SELPA intends to withdraw from the SELPA in order to join another SELPA pursuant to EC Section 56195.3, the member shall notify the SELPA of its intent at least one year prior to the proposed effective date for implementation of the change.

C. Program operators shall provide program and fiscal reports as required by the SELPA. Program operators shall assume responsibility for any unfunded deficits associated with the operation of special education programs subject to SELPA funding policies.

D. Program Operators may contract for Services from LCOE, ie Psychologist, Speech, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Nurse, Adaptive PE.

E. SELPA will continue to maintain compliance over District/Charter Program Operators for a cost to the district/charter of 3% of special education expenditures.

. Approved: November 19, 2013

SELPA/SELPA Operating Guide/Final.SELPA Operating Guide 5