Special Education

FY11 Final ARRA-IDEA Allocations – Urgent Notice

To:	Special Education Directors
From:	Marcia Mittnacht, State Director of Special Education
Date:	April 13, 2011

As we near the end of ARRA-IDEA funding please ensure that your district is on track to fully expend the funds. The current year ARRA-IDEA grant (760) will end on June 30, 2011. Please work with your business office to review and do your best to ensure your district will be able to fully obligate its ARRA-IDEA funds by the end of June. Note: As discussed in our recent webinar on this subject, we are recommending a transfer of expenditures currently planned for the standard entitlement grant (240) to the ARRA (760) grant if needed to ensure full expenditure of the ARRA funds. I remind you that unspent funds in your IDEA 240 grant for this year will be made available to you for another year as part of our obligations under the federal Tydings Amendment (see alert notice posted in April 2009 at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=4738 ) Please call Grace Willis at 781-338-3363 or Helen Skulski at 781-338-3379 to assist you if necessary or to check if you have an unclaimed balance. If you have not obligated all of the ARRA funds as yet, please submit an amendment to increase the amount of your 760 ARRA-IDEA grant for unclaimed ARRA IDEA funds. We will consider allowing an extension to the grant period until September 30, 2011, but we are hoping you will prefer to complete your spending by June 30th and instead use the 240 grant for your summer plans. If you do wish to extend the ARRA grant, please submit an amendment requesting an extension with a justification for the request. Please ensure that ARRA funds are used fully, there will be no capacity to extend spending obligations of ARRA-IDEA funds beyond September 30, 2011 with full liquidation by November 30, 2011. A district planning to increase the existing spending or request an extension must amend the FY11 ARRA IDEA workbook by Friday, April 22, 2011. You must use your district's approved budget workbook when submitting any amendments please send a signed hard copy and upload the 760 workbook to the SPED grant application and amendments drop box. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Thank you.

Last Updated: April 13, 2011