(a)(1) There is established as a special fund the Special Education Enhancement Fund (“Enhancement Fund”), which shall be administered by OSSE in accordance with subsections (c) and (d) of this section.

(b) Revenue from the following sources shall be deposited into the Enhancement Fund:

(1) Any excess appropriated funds remaining at the end of each fiscal year in the operating budget for the non-public tuition paper agency within OSSE;

(2) Any other annual appropriation, if any; and

(3) Grants, gifts, or subsidies from public or private sources.

(c) The Enhancement Fund shall be used solely to:

(1) Provide additional funds to those public schools that demonstrate they have incurred costs associated with providing special education services above that for which the school was funded pursuant to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula allocation;

(2) Support special education capacity expansions, including:

(A) Partnerships developed among nonpublic schools and public schools or public charter schools to provide special education services and training; and

(B) Collaborative ventures among public charter schools to develop special education capacity through joint special education training, administration, or instruction;

(3) Support:

(A) Programs providing joint professional development and training opportunities:

(B) Joint agreements to procure or provide special education services; or

(C) Joint evaluations or assessments developed by groups of public schools or public charter schools; and

(4) Support the development of educational programs specifically targeted at overage, under-credited youth with intensive special educational needs.

(c-1) (1) The money deposited into the Fund shall not revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time.

(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated in the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds provided under this section shall be counted for the purposes of calculating the maintenance of effort under IDEA.

(e) OSSE may issue rules to implement the provisions of this section.

(Oct. 21, 2000, D.C. Law 13-176, § 7g; as added Mar. 10, 2015, D.C. Law 20-196, § 202, 61 DCR 12425; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 4112, 64 DCR 7652.)

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4112 of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-167, Oct. 24, 2017, 64 DCR 10802).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4112 of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-104, July 20, 2017, 64 DCR 7032).

Section 4113 of D.C. Law 22-33 provided that the addition of subsection (c-1) to this section shall apply as of September 30, 2017.