Section III

States must provide the Description of Use of Funds by completing and submitting the Excel Interactive Spreadsheet with the FFY 2021 Application.

Describe how the amount retained by the State educational agency under 20 U.S.C. 1411(e)(1) will be used to meet the following activities under Part B. (20 U.S.C. 1411(e)(1)-(3), (6) and (7)) The Department annually identifies for States the maximum amounts that a State may retain under Section 1411(e)(1) and (2).1 The dollar amounts listed in the Excel Interactive Spreadsheet by the State for administration and for other State activities should add up to less or equal to the dollar amount provided to the State by the Department for each of these activities.

Enter whole dollar amounts (do not enter cents) in appropriate cells on the State’s Excel Interactive Worksheet. The Excel Interactive Spreadsheet must be submitted as part of the State’s application.

Describe the process used to get input from LEAs regarding the distribution of amounts among activities described in the Excel Interactive Spreadsheet to meet State priorities. (20 U.S.C. 1411(e)(5)(B); 34 CFR §300.704)

Local educational agencies (LEAs) have the following opportunities for input:

1. The California Department of Education (CDE), Special Education Division, obtains input from a variety of sources, including the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Fiscal Workgroup and the SELPA Administrators Group. The State Performance Plan (SPP), Annual Performance Report (APR), and State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) are guided by these stakeholder groups. The meetings address improvement strategies and resources as well as other issues such as personnel development, statewide assessment and progress monitoring through a unified planning process. These workgroups are comprised of a diverse group of individuals involved in, or concerned with, fiscal and programmatic issues pertaining to the education of children with disabilities, such as Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs), Advisory Commission on Special Education (ACSE), Special Education Administrators of County Offices (SEACO), LEAs, County Offices of Education, and School Services of California (an advocacy fiscal resource organization for educational agencies in California)
   
   
2. The CDE prepares Budget Change Proposals (BCPs) and Budget Revisions (BRs) for consideration by the Governor and the state Legislature. California’s budget process actively solicits input from individual LEAs, professional organizations, and constituents.

Footnote

1 Each State may reserve for each fiscal year not more than the maximum amount the State was eligible to reserve for State administration under this section for fiscal year 2004 or $800,000 (adjusted in accordance with 20 U.S.C. 1411(e)(1)(B)), whichever is greater; and each outlying area may reserve for each fiscal year not more than 5 percent of the amount the outlying area receives under 20 U.S.C. 1411(b)(1) for the fiscal year or $35,000, whichever is greater.

For each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2005, the Secretary shall cumulatively adjust: 1) the maximum amount the State was eligible to reserve for State administration under this part for fiscal year 2004; and 2) $800,000, by the rate of inflation as measured by the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal year in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.