Family & Community Special Communities
Special Education

Administrative Advisory SPED 2006-4:
Assignment of Financial and Programmatic Responsibility for Special Education and Enforcement of Assignments

The Special Education Regulations, at 603 CMR 28.10(8), authorize the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) to assign a city, town or school district to be responsible for providing and paying for the special education of students in certain situations. The text of the regulation is found in Attachment A. The purpose of this memo is to explain the process for making and enforcing these school district assignments.

The Department assigns responsibility to a school district for students in several situations, including students who are in the care or custody of a state agency and have no parent or legal guardian residing in Massachusetts, and students whose parent's or legal guardian's residence is in dispute. Often these cases are factually complex, and the students may have been moved several times and may be in serious need of an educational program. The Department carefully reviews the facts that are presented in each case before notifying a school district in writing that it has been assigned responsibility for a student. To ensure that students receive the free appropriate public education to which they are entitled, without delay, the regulation states, "Upon notification of responsibility for provision of special education to a student…the school district(s) shall immediately assume responsibility for the student in accordance with the requirements of 603 CMR 28.00." (603 CMR 28.10(8)(d), emphasis added.) To ensure that the assignment process is fair and is based on accurate information, the regulation gives the school district the right to seek a review of the assignment by presenting new information to the Department, and also the right to appeal the assignment to the Bureau of Special Education Appeals.

School districts demonstrate exemplary professionalism and concern for students by acting promptly to assume responsibility for a student's special education in these cases, and we appreciate your cooperation. Occasionally, however, a district that has been assigned programmatic responsibility is not responsive to requests for evaluation or services, or a district that is assigned financial responsibility does not pay for the required IEP services or placement. A district that fails to assume its responsibility risks denying a free appropriate public education to an eligible student, because its inaction prevents the student from participating in his or her full IEP program or from receiving other services to which he or she is entitled.

While a school district may seek review of an assignment at any time if the district has information that was not available to the Department at the time of the assignment (603 CMR 28.10(8)(f))¹, the district cannot delay the actual assumption of responsibility because it intends to seek review, has requested review, or has filed an appeal under 603 CMR 28.10(9)². If the district provides all information with its request for a review of an assignment, then response by the Department can be expected promptly. If further investigation or confirmation of documentation by the Department is necessary, a review can take a number of weeks. A school district may not delay assumption of responsibility for any amount of time, regardless of its belief that an assignment should be revised. Further, since the regulations provide for reimbursement to any district that has assumed financial responsibility and is subsequently found by the Department not to have been responsible during the period in question, there is no reason for a school district to delay assuming responsibility. See 603 CMR 28.10(8)(e).

Under federal and state law, the Department must ensure that eligible students receive the special education services to which they are entitled. Therefore, we are instituting procedures to ensure that school districts assume programmatic and/or fiscal responsibility, without delay, as required by M.G.L. c.71B and 20 U.S.C. § 1416(a)(C)(2)). If the Department has notified a school district of its responsibility for a student under 603 CMR 28.10(8), and the Department receives a complaint that the district is not taking such responsibility, the following actions will occur:

1. The Department will send the school district a notice (Attachment B) that a complaint has been received regarding assumption of assigned financial and/or programmatic responsibility, stating that the district is required to assume immediately its assigned responsibility. The notice will be sent from the Special Education Planning and Policy Development Office (SEPP) (with a copy to the Program Quality Assurance Office (PQA)) or from PQA. The notice will state that even if the district disputes the assignment, it must assume responsibility until the dispute is resolved through procedures described in the regulations. The district will be informed that if it does not assume its assigned responsibility, the Department is authorized to withhold future disbursements of special education funds (20 U.S.C. § 1413(d)(1)) and will do so, if necessary.

2. If the district immediately assumes its responsibility and documents this to the Department, then the Department will take no further action.

3. If the district does not assume its assigned responsibility, PQA will open a formal complaint on the issue, and will investigate whether the refusal is interfering with the student's right to FAPE. The right to FAPE includes timely and appropriate evaluation, services, Team meetings, notices, and other special education services, and can also include the refusal to pay for services in a timely manner if such refusal may cause service delivery to be jeopardized.

4. At the same time that PQA initiates the complaint investigation, PQA will issue a "Notice of Intent to Withhold Funds" identifying the funds to be withheld from the district³. As provided under federal law, the district may request a hearing with the Department regarding its intent to withhold federal special education funds. See 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(13); 20 U.S.C. § 1413(d)(1). If the district requests such a hearing, a public notice will be required before the hearing is conducted. See 20 U.S.C. § 1413(d)(2).

We hope this memo clarifies the process for making and enforcing school district assignments under the special education regulations and that it will assist districts in understanding and fully implementing the requirements of the law. We encourage school districts to use the review mechanisms provided by the regulations (603 CMR 28.10(8)(f) and 28.10(9)) to seek reconsideration of assignments in appropriate cases, provided that the student's program, services, or placement are not jeopardized by inaction on the part of any school district.

Thank you for your attention to this memo and for all the work you do on behalf of students. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Program Quality Assurance Services at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (781-338-3700).

Attachment 1

Attachment 2

¹ Requests for review of assignments based on new or different information may be addressed to the LEA Assignment Office at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education using the Request for Clarification form found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/28MR/28m2.doc, or may be simply provided in letter form correcting original information or providing new information, as appropriate.

² Appeals of LEA assignments should be sent to the attention of the Bureau of Special Education Appeals, using the request form found at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/bsea/forms/lea_hearing.doc

³ Until the matter is resolved, the Department may withhold future disbursements of some or all of the district's special education funds, as circumstances dictate, including future disbursements of federal entitlement or discretionary special education funds, or future disbursements of state "circuit breaker" funds.