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. 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. 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. 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.

[C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §281.9]

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; 2010 Acts, ch 1069, §30

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