125A.75 SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM APPROVAL; AID PAYMENTS; TRAVEL
AID.
    Subdivision 1. Travel aid. The state must pay each district one-half of the sum actually
expended by a district, based on mileage, for necessary travel of essential personnel providing
home-based services to children with a disability under age five and their families.
    Subd. 2. Aid payment. The aids provided for children with a disability must be paid to the
district providing the special instruction and services. General education aid must be paid to the
district of the pupil's residence. The total amount of aid paid may not exceed the amount expended
for children with a disability in the year for which the aid is paid.
    Subd. 3. Full state payment. The state must pay each district the actual cost incurred in
providing instruction and services for a child whose district of residence has been determined by
section 125A.17 or 125A.51, paragraph (b), and who is temporarily placed in a state institution,
a licensed residential facility, or foster facility for care and treatment. The regular education
program at the facility must be an approved program according to section 125A.515.
Upon following the procedure specified by the commissioner, the district may bill the
state the actual cost incurred in providing the services including transportation costs and a
proportionate amount of capital expenditures and debt service, minus the amount of the basic
revenue, as defined in section 126C.10, subdivision 2, of the district for the child and the special
education aid, transportation aid, and any other aid earned on behalf of the child. The limit in
subdivision 2 applies to aid paid pursuant to this subdivision.
To the extent possible, the commissioner shall obtain reimbursement from another state for
the cost of serving any child whose parent or guardian resides in that state. The commissioner
may contract with the appropriate authorities of other states to effect reimbursement. All money
received from other states must be paid to the state treasury and placed in the general fund.
    Subd. 4. Program and aid approval. Before June 1 of each year, each district providing
special instruction and services to children with a disability must submit to the commissioner
an application for approval of these programs and their budgets for the next fiscal year. The
application must include an enumeration of the costs proposed as eligible for state aid pursuant
to this section and of the estimated number and grade level of children with a disability in the
district who will receive special instruction and services during the regular school year and in
summer school programs during the next fiscal year. The application must also include any other
information deemed necessary by the commissioner for the calculation of state aid and for the
evaluation of the necessity of the program, the necessity of the personnel to be employed in the
program, for determining the amount which the program will receive from grants from federal
funds, or special grants from other state sources, and the program's compliance with the rules and
standards of the Department of Education. The commissioner shall review each application to
determine whether the program and the personnel to be employed in the program are actually
necessary and essential to meet the district's obligation to provide special instruction and services
to children with a disability pursuant to sections 125A.03 to 125A.24, 125A.259 to 125A.48, and
125A.65. The commissioner shall not approve aid pursuant to this section for any program or for
the salary of any personnel determined to be unnecessary or unessential on the basis of this review.
The commissioner may withhold all or any portion of the aid for programs which receive grants
from federal funds, or special grants from other state sources. By August 31 the commissioner
shall approve, disapprove, or modify each application, and notify each applying district of the
action and of the estimated amount of aid for the programs. The commissioner shall provide
procedures for districts to submit additional applications for program and budget approval during
the fiscal year, for programs needed to meet any substantial changes in the needs of children with
a disability in the district. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 127A.42, the commissioner
may modify or withdraw the program or aid approval and withhold aid pursuant to this section
without proceeding according to section 127A.42 at any time the commissioner determines
that the program does not comply with rules of the Department of Education or that any facts
concerning the program or its budget differ from the facts in the district's approved application.
    Subd. 5. Regular classroom programs. When planning programs for the education of
children with a disability in the regular classroom, school districts are encouraged to consider
the size of the regular class and to provide the support services necessary to ensure successful
mainstreaming.
    Subd. 6. Summer school. By March 15 of each year, districts must submit separate
applications for program and budget approval for summer school programs. These applications
must be reviewed as provided in subdivision 4. By May 1 of each year, the commissioner shall
approve, disapprove, or modify the applications and notify the districts of the action and of the
estimated amount of aid for the summer school programs.
    Subd. 7. Allocation from cooperative centers, service cooperatives, education districts,
and intermediate districts. For purposes of this section, a special education cooperative, service
cooperative, education district, or an intermediate district must allocate its approved expenditures
for special education programs among participating districts. Special education aid for services
provided by a cooperative, service cooperative, education district, or intermediate district must
be paid to the participating school districts.
    Subd. 8.[Repealed, 1Sp2005 c 5 art 3 s 19]
History: Ex1959 c 71 art 5 s 32; 1961 c 559 s 1; 1965 c 870 s 1; 1967 c 853 s 1; 1969 c 913
s 1; 1969 c 981 s 6; 1971 c 25 s 33; 1973 c 501 s 3; 1973 c 683 s 14-16; 1975 c 162 s 41; 1975 c
432 s 48-50; 1976 c 271 s 52; 1977 c 447 art 3 s 9; 1978 c 764 s 58-62; 1979 c 334 art 3 s 6-10;
1981 c 358 art 3 s 11-17; 1Sp1981 c 2 s 10,11; 1982 c 548 art 3 s 12-21; 1983 c 314 art 1 s 22;
art 3 s 9-11; 1Sp1985 c 12 art 3 s 11-17; 1Sp1986 c 1 art 9 s 14; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 17; 1987 c
384 art 2 s 33; 1987 c 398 art 3 s 18-21; 1988 c 486 s 41-45; 1989 c 329 art 3 s 7; 1991 c 265 art
3 s 7,8,38; 1993 c 224 art 3 s 13-16; 1994 c 647 art 13 s 10; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 15 s 7-9; art 16 s 13;
1998 c 397 art 2 s 98,164; art 11 s 3; 1998 c 398 art 2 s 26; art 5 s 55; 1999 c 123 s 18; 1999 c
241 art 2 s 35,36; 2003 c 130 s 12; 2004 c 294 art 5 s 13; 2006 c 263 art 3 s 10