001so that I can tell you as well that this meeting is being recorded and if um you need to verify or doublech checkck anything in about a week the recording will be up in the same place that you found the registration link. So just to let you know um we do have our Q&A feature open so we you hear information today. If there's questions please put them in there. If they're basic questions we may be able to give you a response. If it's something that requires a little bit of research then we will get back to you. The questions also help us with any future webinar ideas coming out with clarification documents or maybe adding to some of the FAQs that we have. So, we appreciate that. Uh, I'm going to steal a minute before
002I let Julia on and share my screen because I do want to provide some information um about the webinar site itself. Charlie, are you seeing the webinar site? >> Yes, stirring. >> Perfect. Thank you. Um, just want to remind people where to find it. So when you go to you can see the path here. It's the TEA homepage. You go under academics from academics it's special populations and then within special populations is special education. And then you will see where there's a link to the um newsletters as well as webinars. So I just want to remind people and and and in addition to that reminder encourage you all to sign up for the newsletter because the newsletter you'll receive in an email and then it does get archived here. Um as you scroll down to
003the webinar site, this is what we had had before where it was the different days. We are changing and next year we will have uh starting in September we will have webinars monthly. We will have nine of them. So there are a few months where based on the data from attendance we won't be conducting. But what you'll have here is all of the links to registration starting in September all the way through August of 2026. You have the dates and the time. Starting in September, they're going to be from 2 to 3:30. So, they're a half hour longer. And then about a week to maybe 5 days prior to the webinar, you should be able to pull up the agenda that will be hyperl here for you to be able to see what the presentations
004are. Um, we are hoping that all of the people who are going to present to you will have slides and information into us that we'll be able to put here um and accessible prior to the webinar for everyone who's attending. after the webinar. Again, we will still be recording them and the recording will be posted right where the registration w link was. So once the video and recording is ready, this registration link will be replaced with a view link. So I just kind of wanted to give people a little bit of a heads up about that change. Alrighty. And so we do have one topic for you this afternoon. Um so Julie, I'm just going to turn it right over to you. >> Perfect. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for making time for this
005today. Um, give me just one second to uh share my slides and I'll get us going. Great. And All right. And we're seeing them in presentation mode. >> It is now. It looks perfect. >> Amazing. Thank you. So, this is just a real brief um beginning of school year update from the um non-public schools and high-cost fund programs team. I'm Julia Ross. I'm an education specialist on that team if we haven't met yet. Um so, just real quick beginning of your updates uh specific to day programs. So, um, for the 2526 school year, we are continuing with, um, the temporary flexibility that was in place for the 2425 school year. So, if you were part of that process a year ago and you're familiar with it, we're essentially continuing what was put in place at
006the beginning of last school year. Um but quick rundown if you weren't part of that last year or refresher if you were um beginning um beginning of last school year 2024 rule change um affected instructional setting coding for certain um non-district day placement programs. So essentially programs that used to be referred to as off-campus programs are now in rule referred to as nondist operated programs. Um and so last year we enacted some temporary flexibility both in terms of instructional setting coding and um funding and that um flexibility is continuing. So, programs that were previously referred to as off-campus programs um and they're now non-district operated programs. So, um the main ones uh that we have placements in are Harris County Department of Ed, ABS East, ABS West. There's a couple 18 plus programs um that
007this applies to as well. Um but essentially those programs LEAs can continue using an instructional setting code in the 90s or 80s in the case of a RF student who's in one of these placements. Um that option is going to be in place for LEAs for the 2526 school year as well. And then on the funding side, um those off-campus program placements are going to be funded as in years past. So any ABS East, ABS West placements would be continued to be entered in Apex as a non-public day placement and then um funded as a non-public day placement in high-cost funds. Um, so essentially just a continuation of last year's flexibility. Um, so again, just as far as what this will look like for school districts, um, they can continue to use those 90s codes
008in Apex for those specific date placements. Um, it's real crucial that whatever the ALEA has in their IEP should also be reflected in Apex. Those two codes um should always match because that's how we pull state funding at the end of the year. Um, all other non-public day placements, so anything basically not HCDE or one of those couple of 18 plus programs. So all of your traditional non-public day schools, those are still a 60. That will continue this school year. Nothing's changed there. Um our public private partnerships, the main example of that is um CESI or Sierra school programs. Um, we are continuing to not require a day application in Apex for this upcoming school year for those public private partnerships. Um, so those won't be entered as non-public day placements this coming school year.
009Um, and they will be funded this year as in years past. So districts can continue entering an indistrict high-cost fund application for those CESI or Sierra school placements, but they won't be entering um a non-public day application. Um and it's important to keep in mind, so the student attendance accounting handbook was updated last year to reflect um that change to non-dist operated program and all of those definitional changes. Um so that the flexibility I'm talking about today won't be reflected in the student attendance accounting handbook. Um so please rely on this guidance versus um you know the student attendance accounting handbook for now while our team is continuing that temporary flexibility. Um and how this information is being rolled out for the current school year. Um we have a non-public back to school newsletter that
010um will be going out soon. Um today's webinar, we also participated in another TEA webinar. Um Apex users as well as all um ES um ESC special education representatives are going to receive an email about these changes. Um if not by the end of this week, then early next week. And then um our team's annual professional development workshop that typically takes place over the summer. This year we've pushed it back to September 4th just to um allow a few more weeks for more um rule changes and everything with the legislation to be ironed out just to make our information as up to date as possible. So this year it'll be September 4th. Um the registration link was set out through a few different channels, but um feel free to drop me an email if you
011need it. Um it'll also be in that um back to school newsletter that we're sending out shortly. Um and then also just while we have you um a real quick rundown of um some of the House Bill 2 implications as they apply to this program. Of course, it's um you know a pretty far reaching you know far ranging implications for for all of special ed. So of course there will be more um information rolled out agencywide as it's available. Um but some of the things that we do know right now are that um Texas Education Code 29.08 was um expanded. Previously that um rule only applied to um non-public residential programming but effective next school year so 26 27 um the definition has been expanded to add date placement programming. Um and there that rule
012also has includes an update to our non-public approval process. Um, so previously for a non-public program to be initially approved, a school district has had to um initiate that process by contracting for services at a not yet approved program. Um and with this rule change rolling out next school year, so 26 27 um TEA can also um approve programs without a school district contract. So this would enable additional pathways for initial program approval of new programs prior to an LEA making a contract. This rule will also add um rule making authorities. So specifically it gives TEA the authority to set minimum standards for DA and residential programs um including all programs as defined under 1094 non-public and non-district operated um so the rule making and minimum standards are part of that and so throughout this
013school year we'll be reaching out we'll be informing districts and ESC's of um stakeholder feedback opportunities. You know, we want to make sure that um the rule making that we do as part of these um changes rolling out in the 2026 27 school year really reflects um the needs of the field and the voices of the people you know who are engaged in this work. So, you know, if that interests you, stay tuned for um opportunities to provide feedback on those changes. Um so, yeah, that's about it from me. Um our email address is npday andres tea.ex.gov. if you have um questions about anything you heard today. Um I'll stick around for a few in case there's anything in the Q&A that looks answerable, but otherwise thank you so much for your time. >> Thank
014you, Julia. The only question that did come up and I went ahead and answered it. People were asking about the presentation, so I did tell them that the slide deck you showed today will be posted on the website along with the recording. And I know that you had referenced the student attendance accounting handbook and there's a hyperlink to the guidance that you are referencing. So as soon as that presentation is up, you all will have access to that link that Julia is referring to um the guidance that you all want to look at in addition to the student attendance accounting handbook for a little bit more of that clarification. So >> exactly. Thank you. >> Perfect. Well, that's it for today. Thank you. And it's good to know that you're going to want to be
015gathering some feedback throughout the um this next grant year or school year. So, please reach out to that email that's at the end of that presentation if you want to participate in that. So, we thank you. I'm going to stop the recording