The worksheet entitled, "June 8 Calculation of Remaining School District Equalization Aid Payments for 2008-09" is found under “Late Breaking Information” and “Aid Information, then “Aid Payment Information” on the team’s website or directly at http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/steqaidexp.html.  The worksheet explains your district's June and July equalization aid payments and any adjustments due to the public school open enrollment and tuition waiver programs, revenue limit penalties, if any, and for some districts, the Youth Challenge Academy and Second Chance programs.  It is also designed to assist your bookkeeper in the proper transaction coding of these payments. Questions about this worksheet can be directed to one of the school finance consultants listed below. 

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The School Financial Services (SFS) Team is no longer enclosing lists of students who have transferred into and out of districts under public school open enrollment or additional year tuition waivers.  Districts may obtain this information from the school district’s open enrollment coordinator as follows:

• Open enrollment students are now reported electronically on the Open Enrollment Application Log (OPAL).   The Actively Open Enrolled Students table is the page that corresponds with the student listings that was previously sent to districts.    Access to OPAL is controlled by the district administrator. 

• Additional Year Tuition Waivers are still reported via paper.   Lists of additional year waiver transfers into and out of districts have been sent to the district’s open enrollment coordinator.

Any questions about the open enrollment aid transfer should be directed to Mary Jo Cleaver, Open Enrollment Consultant, by telephone at (608) 267-9101, or by e-mail at maryjo.cleaver@dpi.wi.gov

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The High Cost Special Education Aid program is a categorical aid program that provides additional revenue to districts for students with costs in excess of $30,000.  Additional information including aid eligibility is available under the “High Cost SPED” link on the left-hand scan bar of the SFS Team’s website or directly at http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/highcost.html.  Districts that submitted a claim will not receive a summary worksheet of their aid eligibility and should refer to the website listed above for information on their specific payment. Districts will receive this payment on June 15 and should code the revenue to Source 625 for the state categorical aid portion, and Source 711 for the federal aid portion.

Contact Barbara Ebben by telephone at (608) 266-5583 or by e-mail at barbara.ebben@dpi.wi.gov should you have questions about adjustments to your district’s aid claim, and/or Janette Gosdeck by telephone at (608) 267-9218 or by e-mail at janette.gosdeck@dpi.wi.gov should you have questions about the grant claim form.

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2007 Wisconsin Act 20 created a new special education categorical aid program for school districts that meet specific criteria.  The statutory reference is s. 115.883, Wis. Stats.  Districts will receive this aid payment on June 15, 2009. 

Information about this aid program including a list of eligible districts is available under the “Special Education” link on the left hand scan bar of the finance team’s website or directly at http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/pdf/supspedaid.pdf.  Contact David Carlson by telephone at (608) 266-6968 or by e-mail at david.carlson@dpi.wi.gov should you have questions.

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School districts will again file the PI 1505 AC to comply with s. 120.18, Wis. Stats.  The PI 1505 AC is located in the reporting portal and will open for data entry on July 15.  School district financial data collected on PI 1505 AC will be used to calculate each school district’s October 15 aid eligibility.  School districts submitting the PI 1505 AC after the Friday, August 28 due date will not receive their September 15 equalization aid payment until the report is filed, and not earlier than October 12.

It is important that district auditors agree with the data submitted on the PI 1505 AC prior to district submission of that data.  Auditors will be required to verify the data submitted by the district using the online “PI 1506 AC (Aid Certification) Report.”  The auditor report is due September 14.

Please contact one of the School Finance Consultants listed below with questions about this report.

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The PI 1505 Full Financial Annual Report, filed to comply with s. 120.18, Wis. Stats, is also located in the reporting portal. The data collected on this report will be used to calculate district final aid 2009-2010 eligibility in the spring of 2010. 

As part of the district’s audit process for the current year, many of the school district auditors will be asking districts to create and upload their district’s strip file into the SAFR Annual Report program before the audit begins.  This will enable the district and auditor to identify errors that exist in your general ledger before any audit adjustments are made. Once your auditor identifies any potential adjustments, they will ask you to make those adjustments in your general ledger. After those adjustments are made, you will be able to go into the SAFR Annual Report program and ‘Delete and Start Over’ thereby allowing a new strip file to be created and uploaded. The new strip file will be created using your district’s adjusted general ledger. We encourage you to perform this step as it will save the district time and help the auditor identify adjustments during the early stage of the audit. 

If your district will be entering its general ledger manually into the SAFR program, you should still enter your unadjusted balances into SAFR before your audit begins, thereby allowing your auditor to assist you in correcting any identified errors. Any adjustments made by your auditor would have to be made both in your general ledger and in the SAFR program.

The Wisconsin Uniform Financial Accounting Requirements (WUFAR) including updates for 2008-09 (Appendix B) can be found under the left-hand scan bar link, “WUFAR” or directly at http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/wufar.html.

The DPI Aids Register lists all payments made by the Department of Public Instruction to the school districts.  Districts are required to reconcile Federal and State aid received by the district to the DPI Aids Register in order to submit the PI 1505 Annual Report.  An edit will check the aid reported by source against the DPI Aids Register.  Districts should pay special attention to the break out of receivables from other governments when completing the addenda.  The DPI Aids Register is available online under the left-hand scan bar link, “Aids Register” or directly at http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/online_ar.html.

The value of donated commodities received must be recorded in your general ledger by posting an entry to debit Object 415, Food, and crediting Source 714, Donated Commodities. The district should make this entry before the auditors arrive.  To obtain the value of commodities received follow the instructions available on our internet website at http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/doc/accessingcarsreport.doc.  Please provide a copy of the Commodity Allocation and Receipt Summary to your district’s auditor for verification of the amount the district has posted in the district’s ledger.

Please contact one of the School Finance Consultants listed below with questions.

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The PI-1505 Census Report will open for submission on July 1 and is due August 21. Data from the required report is used in the computation of Common School Fund (library) aid.  More information on the Common School Fund can be found at http://dpi.wisconsin.gov/imt/csf_expl.html.  For reporting your district’s census, go to the SFS Team homepage and select “School Finance Reporting Portal,” select your district and go to “Non-Financial Data Home.” Or, go directly to the School Finance Reporting Portal at https://www2.dpi.state.wi.us/safr and select your district.

Please contact Janette Gosdeck at (608) 267-9218 or e-mail at janette.gosdeck@dpi.wi.gov with questions.

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The NEW ONLINE PI 1505 Special Education Annual Report program for reporting 2008-09 expenses and selected revenues will open on Wednesday, July 15 and is due Friday, September 4. This report is located on each district’s “Financial Data Home” page link within the “School Finance Reporting Portal.”  Reports will be submitted online.

Again this year, your district’s special education teacher and staff licensure information is available on the team’s website.  Click on the “School Finance Reporting Portal” link, select your district, and click on the “Auditor” link.  After clicking on the “FY 2008-09 Special Education Licensure/Pupil Services Information” link, input your district ID and password.  There you may find three listings of licenses for your district:  “School Age Parent Educators,” “Educators without Valid Licenses,” and your district’s “Educators with Valid Licenses.”  This information is important for special education aid eligibility and is used by your district’s auditors.

Wisconsin Act 221 directs the department to determine the percentage of salaries/fringes of licensed nurse, psychologists, social workers, and guidance counselors that are eligible for state special education categorical aid.  A series of worksheets have been developed to assist in determining the allowable amount of aidable cost that may be reported in fund 27, project code 011 for these positions on the PI 1505 SE.  Districts are REQUIRED to complete these worksheets as district auditors will be expected to review these worksheets and confirm the district has reported the appropriate amount of aidable cost in the PI 1505 SE.  If the district does not provide the required worksheets to district auditors, any salary and fringe costs reported in project code 011 for these positions will be called into question and excluded from the state special education categorical aid calculation.  Completing these worksheets will also provide the information needed for the district to complete the Wisconsin Act 221 addendum located in the PI 1505 SE Report.  The required worksheets are located under the “Special Education Aid” link on the SFS Team’s home web page and then under “Special Ed Fiscal Report” or directly at http://www.dpi.wi.gov/sfs/xls/WisconsinAct221_Addendum.xls.

Questions regarding this report may be directed to Lori Ames at (608) 266-3464 or by e-mail at lori.ames@dpi.wi.gov.

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The PI 1524 State Tuition Claim for reporting 2008-09 expenses will be available July 15.  The Excel workbook is located under the “Special Education Aid” link on the SFS Team’s home web page and then under “State Tuition” or directly at http://www.dpi.wi.gov/sfs/tuit_st.html.

The Department is currently reviewing the state tuition claim process, including the due date.  After review, the department will announce the due date and submittal process. 

Contact Lori Ames by telephone at (608) 266-3464 or by e-mail at lori.ames@dpi.wi.gov with questions about the State Tuition Claim Report.

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Districts wishing to submit a claim for High Cost Categorical Aid should review the information and filing instructions by either selecting the “High Cost” link on the left-hand scan bar of the School Financial Services Team website or by going directly to http://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/highcost.html.

The 2008-09 high cost special education aid claim form PI 1570 must be submitted to the department by 4:30 p.m. on December 1, 2009.  Send the PI 1570 claim report as an e-mail to dpisfsreports@dpi.wi.gov and mail or fax  (608) 266-2840 the signed signature page to the attention of Janette Gosdeck. Indicate on the subject line of the e-mail the name of the district and the title of the report,
“PI 1570 High Cost Special Education Aid Report.”

Contact Barbara Ebben by telephone at (608) 266-5583 or by e-mail at barbara.ebben@dpi.wi.gov should you have questions about the program. Questions about the claim form should be directed to Janette Gosdeck by telephone at (608) 267-9218 or by e-mail at janette.gosdeck@dpi.wi.gov.

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