§ 38–2613. Special Education Enhancement Fund.

(a)(1) There is established as a special fund the Special Education Enhancement Fund (“Enhancement Fund”), which shall be administered by OSSE in accordance with subsections (c) and (d) of this section.

(b) Revenue from the following sources shall be deposited into the Enhancement Fund:

(1) Any excess appropriated funds remaining at the end of each fiscal year in the operating budget for the non-public tuition paper agency within OSSE;

(2) Any other annual appropriation, if any; and

(3) Grants, gifts, or subsidies from public or private sources.

(c) The Enhancement Fund shall be used solely to:

(1) Provide additional funds to those public schools that demonstrate they have incurred costs associated with providing special education services above that for which the school was funded pursuant to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula allocation;

(2) Support special education capacity expansions, including:

(A) Partnerships developed among nonpublic schools and public schools or public charter schools to provide special education services and training; and

(B) Collaborative ventures among public charter schools to develop special education capacity through joint special education training, administration, or instruction;

(3) Support:

(A) Programs providing joint professional development and training opportunities:

(B) Joint agreements to procure or provide special education services; or

(C) Joint evaluations or assessments developed by groups of public schools or public charter schools;

(4) Support the development of educational programs specifically targeted at overage, under-credited youth with intensive special educational needs; and

(5) Make grants to child development facilities to support the costs of maintaining dedicated slots for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and providing out-of-school-time programming to school-aged children with disabilities and to implement a referral program to place children with disabilities in dedicated grant-funded slots.

(c-1) (1) The money deposited into the Fund shall not revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time.

(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated in the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds provided under this section shall be counted for the purposes of calculating the maintenance of effort under IDEA.

(e) OSSE may issue rules to implement the provisions of this section.