PRINTER'S NO. 632
No. 583 Session of 1987
INTRODUCED BY COWELL, FISCHER, TIGUE, FATTAH, LASHINGER, COY,
KOSINSKI, FOX, E. Z. TAYLOR, BATTISTO, LESCOVITZ, VROON,
KUKOVICH, PETRONE, JOHNSON, ITKIN, STUBAN, WASS, STAIRS,
KENNEY, BELFANTI, SEVENTY, TRELLO, COLAFELLA, CAPPABIANCA,
FLICK, J. L. WRIGHT, CIVERA, PHILLIPS, OLASZ, VEON,
DOMBROWSKI, MARKOSEK, RAYMOND, HALUSKA, D. R. WRIGHT,
VAN HORNE, MORRIS, REBER, BOOK, NAHILL, SEMMEL, GRUPPO,
CALTAGIRONE, McHALE, SALOOM, STABACK, SAURMAN, CAWLEY,
CORRIGAN, O'DONNELL, BELARDI, PISTELLA, PRESTON AND CORNELL,
MARCH 3, 1987
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 3, 1987
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," further providing for the education
6 of exceptional children in approved institutions.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 1376 of the act of March 10, 1949
10 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,
11 amended December 20, 1983 (P.L.267, No.73), is amended to read:
12 Section 1376. Cost of Tuition and Maintenance of Certain
13 Exceptional Children in Approved Institutions.--(a) When any
14 child between the ages of six (6) and twenty-one (21) years of
15 age and resident in this Commonwealth, who is blind or deaf, or
16 afflicted with cerebral palsy and/or brain damage and/or
1 muscular dystrophy and/or mentally retarded and/or socially and
2 emotionally disturbed, is enrolled, with the approval of the
3 Department of Education, as a pupil in an approved school for
4 the blind or deaf, or cerebral palsied and/or brain damaged
5 and/or muscular dystrophied and/or mentally retarded, and/or
6 socially and emotionally disturbed, approved by the Department
7 of Education, in accordance with standards and regulations
8 promulgated by the Council of Basic Education, the school
9 district in which such child is resident shall pay twenty per
10 centum (20%) of the actual audited cost of tuition and
11 maintenance of such child in such school, as determined by the
12 Department of Education; and the Commonwealth shall pay, out of
13 funds appropriated to the department for special education,
14 eighty per centum (80%) of the cost of their tuition and
15 maintenance, as determined by the Department. If the residence
16 of such child in a particular school district cannot be
17 determined, the Commonwealth shall pay, out of moneys
18 appropriated to the department for special education, the whole
19 cost of tuition and maintenance of such child. The Department of
20 Education shall be provided with such financial data from
21 approved schools as may be necessary to determine the
22 reasonableness of costs for tuition and room and board
23 concerning Pennsylvania resident approved reimbursed students.
24 The Department of Education shall evaluate such data and shall
25 disallow any cost deemed unreasonable. Any costs deemed
26 unreasonable by the Department of Education for disallowance
27 shall be considered an adjudication within the meaning of Title
28 2 of the Pa.C.S. (relating to administrative law and procedure)
29 and regulations promulgated thereunder.
30 (b) When any person less than six (6) or more than twenty-
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1 one (21) years of age and resident in this Commonwealth, who is
2 blind or deaf, or afflicted with cerebral palsy and/or brain
3 damage and/or muscular dystrophy, is enrolled, with the approval
4 of the Department of Education, as a pupil in an approved school
5 for the blind or deaf, or cerebral palsied and/or brain damaged
6 and/or muscular dystrophied, approved by the Department of
7 Education, the Commonwealth shall pay to such school, out of
8 moneys appropriated to the department for special education, the
9 actual audited cost of tuition and maintenance of such person,
10 as determined by the Department of Education, subject to review
11 and approval in accordance with standards and regulations
12 promulgated by the Council of Basic Education, and in addition,
13 in the case of any child less than six (6) years of age, who is
14 blind, the cost, as determined by the Department of Education of
15 instructing the parent of such blind child in caring for such
16 child.
17 (c) Each approved school, prior to the start of the school
18 year, shall submit to the department such information as the
19 department may require in order to establish an estimate of
20 reimbursable costs. [Based upon this information, any other data
21 deemed necessary by the department and in accordance with
22 department standards, the department shall develop for each
23 approved school an estimate of reimbursable costs. Based upon
24 such estimate, the department shall provide each approved school
25 with quarterly payments in advance of department audit. The
26 department may withhold a portion of such payments not exceeding
27 five percent (5%) of such payment, pending final audit. In no
28 event shall either the advance payments or final reimbursement
29 made by the department following audit exceed the appropriation
30 available for approved schools.] The department shall enter into
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1 an agreement with each approved school prior to the school year.
2 Such agreement shall set forth an estimate of reimbursable costs
3 based on audit standards promulgated by the department and the
4 estimate of daily average attendance. Based upon such estimate,
5 the department shall provide each approved school with quarterly
6 payments in advance of final department audit. The audit
7 standards, promulgated by the department, shall specify as
8 reasonable any cost allowed publicly operated education
9 programs. In addition, the audit standards shall specify as
10 reasonable, costs associated with the operation of a private
11 nonprofit business to the extent that such costs are related to
12 the educational program offered (such as director's liability
13 insurance; interest on money borrowed to operate the
14 instructional program necessary to meet the requirements of an
15 approved school). The department may withhold a portion of the
16 advance quarterly payments. However, in no case shall such
17 withheld money exceed in total for any one (1) year or a
18 combination of years, a sum equal to five per centum (5%) of the
19 most recent year's agreement of estimated reimbursable costs and
20 an amount not to exceed fifty per centum (50%) of any
21 outstanding audit exception. In no event shall either the
22 advance payments or final reimbursements made by the department
23 following the final audit exceed the appropriation available for
24 approved schools.
25 (d) No private institution receiving payment in accordance
26 with this section shall impose any charge on the student and/or
27 parents who are Pennsylvania approved reimbursable residents for
28 a program of individualized instruction and maintenance
29 appropriate to the child's needs; except that charges for
30 services not part of such program may be made if agreed to by
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1 the parents.
2 (e) Any private institution or approved school refusing to
3 cooperate with the Department of Education's audit process shall
4 be ineligible for the ceiling withholding limitation provided in
5 subsection (c).
6 Section 2. Section 1 of this act shall apply to the school
7 year 1987-1988 and each year thereafter.
8 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1987.
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