From Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us Wed Jan 6 08:39:30 2010 From: Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us (WILTFONG Michael) Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 08:39:30 -0800 Subject: [Busmgrs] A message from Barb Cruickshank: Reminder for Thursday, February 4 Budget video conference Message-ID: Just a quick reminder about the School Finance: Budgets - Budget Requirements/Resources, Chart of Accounts - Thursday, February 4, 2010 from 2:00 PM until 3:30 PM. Please contact your local ESD if you would like to participate through V-tel so the ESD can get it set up in plenty of time. It may also be viewed through Live Streaming or WebEx. The handouts are available at https://district.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=193 . Sandy King from the Department of Revenue will be joining me. Barb Cruickshank Oregon Dept of Education (503) 947-5916 (503) 378-5156 Fax barbara.cruickshank at state.or.us ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us Wed Jan 6 12:07:08 2010 From: Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us (WILTFONG Michael) Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 12:07:08 -0800 Subject: [Busmgrs] UPDATE: A message from Barb Cruickshank: Reminder for Thursday, February 4 Budget conference Message-ID: UPDATE: This presentation will only be available through Live Streaming or WebEx, and not V-tel as originally stated in the previous communication. Just a quick reminder about the School Finance: Budgets - Budget Requirements/Resources, Chart of Accounts - Thursday, February 4, 2010 from 2:00 PM until 3:30 PM. It may be viewed through Live Streaming or WebEx. The handouts are available at https://district.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=193 . Sandy King from the Department of Revenue will be joining me. Barb Cruickshank Oregon Dept of Education (503) 947-5916 (503) 378-5156 Fax barbara.cruickshank at state.or.us ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us Wed Jan 20 11:43:53 2010 From: Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us (WILTFONG Michael) Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:43:53 -0800 Subject: [Busmgrs] A message from Nancy Latini: OSL&P: Excess Cost Calculation Message-ID: TO: All District and ESD Special Education Directors The message below is being sent to you on behalf of: Nancy Latini, PhD Assistant Superintendent Student Learning & Partnerships ______________________________________________ January 20, 2010 RE: Excess Cost Calculation It is that time of year when each district must complete the annual excess cost calculation for special education. As you know, this is a federally mandated report under IDEA 2004, and districts must complete the calculation and meet the excess cost requirement at both elementary and secondary levels in order to retain their IDEA base and ARRA funds for 2009-2010. A work group of excellent school district business managers from around the state have provided our office with an improved template that makes it much easier to complete the calculation. In many districts the business manager completes this calculation, so we will be sending a copy of this message to all of the school district and ESD business manages as well. Because a failure by any district to complete the calculation will result in ODE being required to collect the equivalent of full repayment of district 2009-2010 IDEA ARRA and base grants, Superintendents will also receive a copy of this message. Attached you will find: 1. A spreadsheet, with tab instructions, to assist you in the calculation. It is not mandatory that you use this spreadsheet. It is a tool to help you should you choose to use it (second attachment). Please note Tab 4 of the spreadsheet. It contains the shortened form onto which you will report your expenses for elementary and secondary, have signed and dated by an authorized official of your district, and forward the original document/signature to my attention. 2. A guidance sheet explaining how to secure the correct SECC number for use in the calculation. As you know, the October 2008 ADM count is used for your total student body count. (refer to first attachment) 3. A technical assistance document written by the United States Department of Education on excess costs is located on the link below. This document from the federal level addresses many of the questions that we have heard here in Oregon. http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/schoolanddistrict/funding/sped/excesscostcalculation.pdf This year the due date will be March 30, 2010. Because we have extended the time for you to complete the calculation it is critical that you complete this federally required exercise by the stated due date; otherwise we will be required to make you repay your IDEA base and ARRA funds for 2009-2010. There can no longer be extensions to our designated deadline. The object of the excess cost calculation is to ensure that you are spending at least the same amount per child on an IEP as you would spend on a child in General Education with regard to basic costs of operating your district and providing education. Only then can the money being provided through IDEA truly be considered as covering excess costs of providing special education and related services for students on IEPs, and not supplanting basic educational expenses that would be incurred even if IDEA funds were not granted. Federal law prohibits the use of your IDEA funds before you spend at this level in basic costs. Please feel free to call or write Eric Richards at eric.richards at state.or.us or 503-947-5786. If you have any difficulty opening the attached documents, please contact Laura Allran at laura.allran at state.or.us or 503-947-5674. Messages to and from this e-mail address may be made available to the public under Oregon law. =========== 2 Attachments ============ SECC Data for Excess Cost Calculation (12-30-09).doc Excess Cost 2008-09 timeplate-modified.xls ===========End of Message============ ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: SECC Data for Excess Cost Calculations (12-30-09).doc Type: application/msword Size: 36352 bytes Desc: SECC Data for Excess Cost Calculations (12-30-09).doc URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Excess Cost 2008-09template-modified.xls Type: application/vnd.ms-excel Size: 258560 bytes Desc: Excess Cost 2008-09template-modified.xls URL: From Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us Thu Jan 21 18:47:53 2010 From: Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us (WILTFONG Michael) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:47:53 -0800 Subject: [Busmgrs] Important Information About ARRA Reporting for the Quarter Ending December 31, 2009 Message-ID: TO: Oregon School District Superintendents; School District Business Managers; Grant Managers FR: Sue MacGlashan, Assistant Superintendent - Office of Finance and Administration (ODE) RE: Important Information About ARRA Reporting for the Quarter Ending December 31, 2009 As you probably are aware, in December 2009 the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued updated guidance for reporting jobs created or retained as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Unfortunately, this guidance was issued about two weeks after the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) opened its data collection for the quarter ending December 31, 2009 and just before most districts were starting winter break. Therefore, in an e-mail dated December 18, 2009, I indicated districts should continue to report using previously issued ODE guidance for calculating jobs until further notice. This advice was based on conversations with the U.S. Department of Education. Many states experienced the same challenges as Oregon in being able to implement the new guidance on such short notice. As it turns out, however, OMB has remained firm on the implementation date of its December guidance, i.e., it is effective for the quarter ending December 31, 2009. Fortunately, in recognition of the challenges states have faced, the federal government has extended the deadline for making corrections to these data. This e-mail is to let you know ODE is re-opening its ARRA data collection for the period ending December 31, 2009 to give you an opportunity to change, if necessary, your job data and thus ensure the State of Oregon complies with the updated OMB guidance. This collection will be open from January 21 through February 3. Districts and other sub-recipients of ARRA funding will need to do the following: 1) Please have the appropriate personnel review the revised methodology for calculating jobs created or retained due to Recovery Act funding and recalculate your job data using the new methodology. (Please see below for a link to ODE's updated FAQs as of 1-20-10 and note the updated section 3.) 2) If, as a result of step 1, there is a difference between your new job data and what you previously reported to ODE for the quarter ending December 31, 2009, please revise the data in ODE's collection tool by February 3. 3) If you do not need to revise your data, please go into the ODE collection tool and re-save the data you previously entered as confirmation to ODE that you have reviewed your earlier calculations and they still are correct. 4) Be sure to retain documentation of your recalculations for audit purposes. If, as the result of our review of your data, we believe you should have made changes but you don't by February 3, ODE staff will contact your district. Thank you in advance for your compliance with these revised requirements. We realize this may be a frustrating process for you. Please know that ODE greatly appreciates your efforts in helping ensure the State of Oregon complies with the significant reporting requirements under the Recovery Act of 2009. http://stimulus.k12partners.org/category/subject-area/general-directives Sincerely - Sue MacGlashan, CPA, CGFM Assistant Superintendent Office of Finance and Administration Oregon Department of Education 255 Capitol Street NE Salem, Oregon 97310 (503)947-5658 susan.macglashan at state.or.us ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us Wed Jan 27 18:19:33 2010 From: Michael.Wiltfong at ode.state.or.us (WILTFONG Michael) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:19:33 -0800 Subject: [Busmgrs] A message from Tim Stock: School Integrated Pest Management Online Survey -- YOUR PARTICIPATION REQUESTED Message-ID: To: Oregon School District Superintendents, Business Managers and/or Facilities Managers From: Tim Stock, IPM Education Specialist, Oregon State University As you may know, on June 24, 2009 the Governor signed into law Senate Bill 637, which mandates IPM (Integrated Pest Management) in schools. The Bill requires OSU Extension to develop model IPM plans or strategies for use in school districts. These plans can help you to meet legislative requirements, improve pest management, and reduce costs. For the plans to work for you, it is important that we conduct an online survey to identify current pest problems and pest management practices in K-12 school facilities in Oregon. This is your opportunity to indicate critical issues and needs for us to focus on. All district-specific information collected will remain anonymous in any subsequent reports or publications. Please go to http://ipmnet.org/Tim/Survey/survey_form_2.aspx?Key=SchoolIPM to complete the survey (it should take less than 10 minutes). Thank you to those school districts that have already completed the survey. Your time and effort is greatly appreciated. Please contact me at stockt at science.oregonstate.edu or (541) 737-6279 if you have questions or comments about the survey. For more information go to: www.ipmnet.org/Tim ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete the communication and any attachments. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: