NC Education Code · NC Policy Manual
NC 1506-1.9 Out-of-District Placements
Plain English summary
This regulation governs the conditions under which the State Board of Education may approve reserve fund payments for the excess costs of placing a child with disabilities in a program not operated by the local board of education. It establishes cost-sharing formulas between local education agencies and the reserve fund, caps reserve fund contributions at fifty percent of total placement cost, and imposes procedural requirements including pre-enrollment application, annual review, and timely withdrawal reporting. Children in out-of-district placements retain the same rights and procedural safeguards as those served locally.
Key requirements
- The State Board of Education review must reveal that the local education agency has approved alternative placement and finds it necessary for the child to be placed in a program not operated by the local board of education.
- The local education agency must fund an amount equal to the sum of the state's regular per pupil allocation for school-aged children, the state's add-on per pupil allocation for exceptional children, and the federal per pupil allocation for exceptional children.
- In no case will the reserve fund pay more than fifty percent of the total cost of the alternative placement.
- Any cost remaining after reserve fund approval must be assumed by the local education agency using any local, state, or federal funds approvable for such expenditure.
- Funds must be used only to provide special education and related services costs; residential costs; and extended school year when determined by the IEP committee that extended year is required as part of the IEP.
- Funds must not be used for medical, custodial, or day care services.
- All in-state residential programs should be the first consideration of placement before placing a child out-of-state.
- All children placed in out-of-district school settings are entitled to the same rights and procedural safeguards as provided to those children whose IEPs are implemented in the local education agency.
- Any application for a special reserve fund allocation must be submitted prior to enrolling the child in the program.
- Each out-of-district placement must be reviewed annually and continued placement must be based on the least restrictive educational placement.
- All withdrawals from out-of-district placements must be reported no later than 10 days after the withdrawal has occurred.
- The withdrawal notification must include the child's name, date of birth, disabling condition, and date of withdrawal.
- Additional children cannot be placed in programs of children who have withdrawn from enrollment.
- A complete application for placement must be submitted to the Exceptional Children Division.
- May 15th of each year is the deadline for submission of these applications.
Affected parties
- Children with disabilities requiring out-of-district placement
- Local education agencies (LEAs)
- State Board of Education
- IEP committees
- Financial Services, State Department of Public Instruction
- Private residential placement programs
- Exceptional Children Division