256B.9 - WEIGHTING PLAN -- AUDITS -- EVALUATIONS -- EXPENDITURES.
256B.9 WEIGHTING PLAN -- AUDITS -- EVALUATIONS --
EXPENDITURES.
1. In order to provide funds for the excess costs of instruction
of children requiring special education, above the costs of
instruction of pupils in a regular curriculum, a special education
weighting plan for determining enrollment in each school district is
adopted as follows:
a. Pupils in a regular curriculum are assigned a weighting of
one.
b. Children requiring special education who require special
adaptations while assigned to a regular classroom for basic
instructional purposes and pupils with disabilities placed in a
special education class who receive part of their instruction in
regular classrooms are assigned a weighting of one and eight-tenths
for the school year commencing July 1, 1975.
Effective July 1, 1991, this paragraph also applies to children
requiring special education who require specially designed
instruction while assigned to a regular classroom for basic
instructional purposes.
c. Children requiring special education who require full-
time, self-contained special education placement with little
integration into a regular classroom are assigned a weighting of two
and two-tenths for the school year commencing July 1, 1975.
Effective July 1, 1991, this paragraph also applies to children
requiring special education who require substantial modifications,
adaptations, or special education accommodations in order to benefit
from instruction in an integrated classroom.
d. Children requiring special education who have severe
disabilities or who have multiple disabilities are assigned a
weighting of four and four-tenths for the school year commencing July
1, 1975.
Effective July 1, 1991, this paragraph also applies to children
requiring special education who have severe and profound
disabilities.
e. Shared-time and part-time pupils of school age who require
special education shall be placed in the proper category and counted
in the proportion that the time for which they are enrolled or
receive instruction for the school year bears to the time that
full-time pupils, carrying a normal course schedule, in the same
school district, for the same school year are enrolled and receive
instruction.
2. The weighting for each category of child multiplied by the
number of children in each category in the enrollment of a school
district, as identified and certified by the director of special
education for the area, determines the weighted enrollment to be used
in that district for purposes of computations required under the
state school foundation plan in chapter 257.
3. The weight that a child is assigned under this section shall
be dependent upon the required educational modifications necessary to
meet the special education needs of the child. Enrollment for the
purpose of this section, and all payments to be made pursuant
thereto, includes all children for whom a special education program
or course is to be provided pursuant to section 256.12, subsection 2,
sections 273.1 to 273.9, and this chapter, whether or not the
children are actually enrolled upon the records of a school district.
4. On December 1, 1987, and no later than December 1 every two
years thereafter, for the school year commencing the following July
1, the director of the department of education shall report to the
school budget review committee the average costs of providing
instruction for children requiring special education in the
categories of the weighting plan established under this section, and
for providing services to nonpublic school students pursuant to
section 256.12, subsection 2, and the director of the department of
education shall make recommendations to the school budget review
committee for needed alterations to make the weighting plan suitable
for subsequent school years. The school budget review committee
shall establish the weighting plan for each school year and shall
report the plan to the director of the department of education. The
school budget review committee may establish weights to the nearest
hundredth. The school budget review committee shall not alter the
weighting assigned to pupils in a regular curriculum, but it may
increase or decrease the weighting assigned to each category of
children requiring special education by not more than two- tenths of
the weighting assigned to pupils in a regular curriculum. The state
board of education shall adopt rules under chapter 17A to implement
the weighting plan for each year and to assist in identification and
proper indexing of each child in the state who requires special
education.
5. The division of special education shall audit the reports
required in section 273.5 to determine that all children in the area
who have been identified as requiring special education have received
the appropriate special education instructional and support services,
and to verify the proper identification of pupils in the area who
will require special education instructional services during the
school year in which the report is filed. The division shall certify
to the director of the department of management the correct total
enrollment of each school district in the state, determined by
applying the appropriate pupil weighting index to each child
requiring special education, as certified by the directors of special
education in each area.
6. The division may conduct an evaluation of the special
education instructional program or special education support services
being provided by an area education agency, school district, or
private agency, pursuant to sections 273.1 to 273.9 and this chapter,
to determine if the program or service is adequate and proper to meet
the needs of the child; if the child is benefiting from the program
or service; if the costs are in proportion to the educational
benefits being received; and if there are any improvements that can
be made in the program or service. A written report of the
evaluation shall be sent to the area education agency, school
district, or private agency evaluated and to the president of the
senate and speaker of the house of representatives of the general
assembly.
7. The costs of special education instructional programs include
the costs of purchase of transportation equipment to meet the special
needs of children requiring special education with the approval of
the director of the department of education. The state board of
education shall adopt rules under chapter 17A for the purchase of
transportation equipment pursuant to this section.
8. Commencing with the school year beginning July 1, 1976, a
school district may expend an amount not to exceed two- sevenths of
an amount equal to the district cost of a school district for the
costs of regular classroom instruction of a child certified under the
special education weighting plan in subsection 1, paragraph "b",
as a pupil with disabilities who is enrolled in a special class, but
who receives part of the pupil's instruction in a regular classroom.
Unencumbered funds generated for special education instructional
programs for the school year beginning July 1, 1975, and for the
school year beginning July 1, 1976, shall not be expended for such
purpose.
9. Funds generated for special education instructional programs
under this chapter and chapter 257 shall not be expended for
modifications of school buildings to make them accessible to children
requiring special education. Section History: Early Form
[C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 281.9] Section History: Recent Form
83 Acts, ch 3, § 2; 85 Acts, ch 212, § 21; 86 Acts, ch 1237, § 18;
86 Acts, ch 1245, §1482; 88 Acts, ch 1134, §64; 89 Acts, ch 135, §84;
91 Acts, ch 39, §1
C93, § 256B.9
94 Acts, ch 1161, §2; 96 Acts, ch 1129, §70, 71
Referred to in § 225C.40, 256.12, 256B.8, 256C.4, 257.6, 257.11,
257.19, 257.31, 273.3, 273.5, 273.9, 273.23, 282.31, 298.1