What is ListServ (SELs/SELs2)?
February 2000, the Office of Special Education created the Special Education Listserv (SELS). It has been and continues to be a limited e-mail group (with listserv being a misnomer since it really isn’t a listserv) available to only one contact person per school district/responsible public agency. It is used by the Office to disseminate important special education information concerning funding, compliance, data collection, professional development, etc.
The Office has created a second e-mail group called SELs2. This e-mail group is open to anyone wanting to subscribe (principals, teachers, parents, etc.). It will allow subscribers to receive the EXACT same messages as subscribers to SELs. By creating this second e-mail group, all constituents interested in special education will have the opportunity to receive the Office’s e-mail messages, not just one contact per school district/responsible public agency. It also allows DESE to maintain the ability to make sure that every district has at least one contact person per district receiving these messages. Messages are from DESE only and may only be posted by the manager (Lina Browner, Office of Special Education). Members may not post messages to either SELs or SELs2.
How Do I Subscribe?
Those interested in subscribing to SELs2 can do so by going to the following the links below.
Questions or Problems Subscribing to SELs and/or needing to change SELs information, contact Lina Browner, Executive Assistant, Office of Special Education at (573) 751-5739 or via email at Lina.Browner@dese.mo.gov
SELs
SELs2
SELs Archives
- Self-Management and Class-Wide Fit Training
Source: Marsha Campe, Assistant Director, Special Education Effective Practices
Intended Audience: General Education and Special Education Teachers K-12
Date: September 10, 2026
On October 29, 2026, at Missouri State University/Plaster Student Union, join nationally recognized educator and behavior specialist Dr. Howard Wills from the University of Kansas for an engaging, hands-on workshop exploring two evidence-based practices that promote student success: Self-Management and Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT).
Participants will learn to:
- Implement self-management strategies that promote student independence and self-regulation.
- Teach students to monitor, evaluate, and reinforce their own behavior.
- Utilize the CW-FIT model to improve classroom climate and increase academic engagement.
- Reduce disruptive behaviors through proactive, positive behavior supports.
- Develop action plans for successful implementation in classrooms and school settings.
This interactive workshop is ideal for teachers, special educators, administrators, behavior specialists, school psychologists, and related service providers seeking practical tools to enhance student outcomes and create supportive learning environments.
Register here for the Self-Management and Class-Wide Fit Training. The cost is free.
- FY26 High Need Fund Application Open – Due October 15, 2026
Source: Special Education Finance
Intended Audience: Special Education Directors, District Administrators
Date: September 11, 2026
The High Need Fund (HNF) application to claim reimbursement for 2025-26 special education services will open on September 15, 2026. Districts will access the HNF application in the DESE web applications ePeGS system. HNF Applications must be submitted in ePeGS by October 15, 2026, to be considered for reimbursement; no extensions will be given.
The HNF application is optional and provides reimbursement for districts serving any student with a disability whose educational costs exceed three times the Current Expenditure per ADA amount as calculated on the FY26 Annual Secretary of the Board Report (ASBR). All expenditures reported on the application must be directly related to the student's education and associated with providing direct special education and related services that are identified in the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP).
To create an application, districts must ensure the following:
- The person completing the application must have authorized access for ePeGS
- Students have been marked as eligible for High Need in the MOSIS June Student Core File
If the district did not mark students as eligible, the MOSIS June Student Core file will need to be updated and resubmitted prior to completing the HNF application as students automatically populate into the application. In addition, if students need to be added or deleted from the application, this must be done by updating the June Student Core File.
The HNF manual has been posted on the Special Education Finance webpage at HNF Manual.
Districts may contact Special Education Finance with questions at 573-522-2523 or Sid.Belt@dese.mo.gov.
- Cochlear Implant - DESE Consultation Services
Source: Marsha Campe, Assistant Director, Special Education Effective Practices
Intended Audience: Superintendents, Principals, Special Education Directors, Special Education Coordinators, Teachers of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Special Education Teachers, Teachers Supporting Deaf/Hard of Hearing Students
Date: September 9, 2026
DESE has again contracted with Missouri State University (MSU), School of Special Education, Educational Leadership, and Professional Studies (SELPS), for free consultation services to help school districts as they meet the needs of students who have cochlear implants. Free cochlear implant educational consultation services are available to any Missouri school district serving students with cochlear implants (PK-12). Service delivery is primarily through Zoom, phone conferences, and email correspondence. Services are individualized but often include information on device functioning, speech and auditory development, educational development, modes of communication, etc.
During the fall 2026 semester, consultation services are offered through MSU each Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. There is some flexibility on days/times and MSU will work with districts to support them in meeting the needs of their students with cochlear implants. MSU embraces a unified approach to serving students with cochlear implants. When applicable, school districts are encouraged to include faculty, administrators, staff, as well as the student and parents of the student in the collaborative, consultation services.
For information about the services, please contact Dr. Karen Engler at KarenEngler@Missouristate.edu.
- Project ACCESS presents Practical Functional Assessment and Skill Based Treatment for Severe Problem Behaviors
Source: Marsha Campe, Assistant Director, Special Education Effective Practices
Intended Audience: Anyone who works with children who present with behaviors that interfere with their educational progress, including para educators, teachers, behavior technicians, behavior analysts
Date: September 9, 2026
Project ACCESS presents Practical Functional Assessment and Skill Based Treatment for Severe Problem Behaviors, a two-day credential track presented by Adithyan Rajaraman on November 2-3, 2026, at Drury Creve Coeur, St. Louis, MO.
Cost: $200
Training Objectives:
- Equip staff to safely and compassionately address severe problem behavior
- Teach rapid, humane functional assessment to understand why behavior occurs
- Build practical skills training that replaces problem behavior with communication, coping, and cooperation
- Implement Universal Protocols that increase safety, dignity, and joy across the day
- Strengthen staff confidence, consistency, and positive student–staff relationships
Participants will be credentialed at level two in the Practical Functional Assessment (PFA) level system. Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available.
Please direct questions to projectaccess@missouristate.edu or call 417-836-6657.
- Families First Program, Early Intervention
Source: Missouri School for the Deaf Outreach Services
Intended Audience: SPOE Directors, Service Coordinators, Service Providers as well as School Districts Administration, including Special Education Directors and their Special Education Staff Members
Date: September 4, 2026
Families First is a free early intervention program serving families of deaf and hard of hearing children from birth through age 8 who live anywhere in Missouri.
Families enrolled in the program are assigned to a Families First Parent Advisor who visits the home on a routine basis to coach parents on a variety of issues unique to children with various degrees of decreased hearing levels. Utilizing a nationally recognized SKI-HI curriculum, the educational topics are designed to strengthen the parents’ knowledge of developmental stages of children, various communication modes and modalities, amplification devices and technologies, understanding their child’s audiograms, literacy, as well as strategies and techniques to implement in the natural environment to support their child’s developmental growth, etc. The parent advisors also assist the family in making the transition from early intervention to the child’s school district.
For additional information about the Families First program and how we can help families in your region or school district, please contact Lindi Wood at Lindi.Wood@msd.dese.mo.gov or visit the MSD website.
- FY26 IDEA Part B Final Expenditure Report (FER) Now Open
Source: Special Education Finance
Intended Audience: Special Education Directors, Financial Administrators, Superintendents
Date: September 1, 2026
The 2025-26 (FY26) IDEA Part B FER is now available for data entry and is due on September 30, 2026. For step-by-step instructions on completing and submitting the 2025-26 IDEA Part B FER, review the FER Guide located at 2025-2026 IDEA Part B FER Guide ^ | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The FER expenditure data will automatically populate from the last submitted 2025-26 Annual Secretary of the Board Report (ASBR) into the FER Grid, Maintenance of Effort (MOE) State Grid, MOE County Grid, and MOE Local Grid. All K-12 Special Education and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) expenditures must have the correct combination of source codes and project codes. Only expenditures with correct coding in the ASBR will pull into the FER. To ensure correct coding, go into the ASBR, select detail reports from the main menu, and then select Part III B. This will pull a report by function code, object code, source code, and project code. Please review the Special Education Expenditure Coding document for additional information regarding special education function, source, and project codes. Any coding corrections should be completed within the 2025-26 general ledger, and the district should then re-upload and submit the ASBR. Once submitted, the district can immediately go into the FER and resave each page in order, this will allow the revised amounts to pull into the FER and MOE grids.
Remaining unexpended IDEA Part B 611, ECSE 611, ECSE 619, and proportionate share funds from the FY26 grant may be carried over and expended in 2026-27 (FY27). Carryover funds will appear in a 2026-27 IDEA Part B Budget Application Revision, which will be created by DESE following the approval of the 2025-26 IDEA Part B FER. The district will need to complete the 2026-27 IDEA Part B Budget Application Revision to budget all funds following the approval of the FER approval.
Please direct any questions to your technical assistance contact as listed below.
County District Codes 001-090 through 039-142:
Kari Withers
Kari.Withers@dese.mo.gov
573-751-0622County District Codes 040-100 through 079-078 (excluding charter schools):
Dawn Coates
Dawn.Coates@dese.mo.gov
573-751-0623County District Codes 048-901 through 048-928 and 080-116 through 115-936:
Shane Cooper
Shane.Cooper@dese.mo.gov
573-751-4385- BRITE Act Revisions
Source: Jessica Huth, Assistant Director, Special Education Effective Practices
Intended Audience: Superintendents, Special Education Directors, Special Education Teachers, Blind Skills Specialists
Date: August 27, 2026
Please refer to the link for the Revised Statutes of Missouri BRITE Act, RSMo Section 167.225 Missouri Revisor of Statutes - Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 167.225.
The BRITE Act mandates that any local education agency (LEA) must seek and obtain proof of currently available certified professionals from any company, agency, or individual they intend to contract with for teachers of students with visual impairments and/or orientation and mobility specialists. Before entering into any agreement, please confirm that the agency has an appropriately certified professional on staff and ready to serve students at the start of the school year.
As a helpful reminder, the BRITE Act also includes the following provisions:
- Braille Instruction
- Braille Quality
- Expanded Core Curriculum – What is the Expanded Core Curriculum?
Questions verifying certifications may be emailed to certification@dese.mo.gov or phone 573-751-0051.
- Professional learning to increase knowledge for students who have low vision/blindness and/or combined hearing and vision impairments
Source: Outreach at Missouri School for the Blind/Missouri DeafBlind Project
Intended Audience: Special education and general education teachers, related service providers, paraprofessionals, teachers of the Visually Impaired, Speech and Language pathologists, teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Orientation and Mobility (O&M) specialists, parents
Date: August 26, 2026
Location: Missouri School for the Blind, 3815 Magnolia, St. Louis, MO 63110
No cost to attend.
Hand in Hand: Understanding Dual Sensory Impairments provides instructional strategies and practices specific to the education of students with combined hearing and vision impairments with or without additional disabilities. The course is taught by specialists in the field of DeafBlindness/Dual Sensory Losses. This upskill training addresses such topics as common causes of dual sensory losses, communication needs of learners with deafblindness, and instructional strategies shown to be most impactful for this population of learners. Follow-up coaching and mentoring is available from Missouri DeafBlind Project staff to deepen comfort levels with real in-class application.
The fall 2026 Hand In Hand: Understanding Dual Sensory Losses course will be presented October 19-23, 2026, and will be in person only due to the nature of the subject and hands on!
See our Professional Development site for more information.
For additional information, contact Ashley Foley, DeafBlind Coordinator, at ashley.foley@msb.dese.mo.gov or 314-633-1587.
- Registration open for Fall Professional Development Week 2026 to support students who have low vision/blindness, combined vision and hearing disabilities, and/or multiple impairments
Source: Outreach at Missouri School for the Blind/Missouri DeafBlind Project
Intended Audience: Special education and general education teachers, related service providers, paraprofessionals, Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI), Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Orientation and Mobility Specialists (O&M), educational interpreters, parents
Date: August 26, 2026
Location: Virtual and In-person at Missouri School for the Blind, 3815 Magnolia, St. Louis, MO 63110
All events are at no cost.
Fall Professional Development Week, September 21-25, 2026
Monday 9/21: ASL Interpreting for the Student with DeafBlindness/Hearing and Vision Impairments (IN-PERSON ONLY) - See the AGENDA HERE
Tuesday 9/22: Orientation and Mobility for Students with Multiple Disabilities/DeafBlindness (IN-PERSON ONLY) - See the AGENDA HERE
Wednesday 9/23: Looking at the Whole Child with Sensory Impairments of Visual Impairment/Blindness/DeafBlindness (VIRTUAL ONLY) - See the AGENDA HERE
Thursday 9/24: Center for Assistive Technology & Teaching (CATT) Presents Hands-On with the Monarch, Polly, and Helios (IN-PERSON ONLY) - See the AGENDA HERE
Friday 9/25: Welcoming the Student with Visual Impairment to Your School (VIRTUAL ONLY) - See the AGENDA HERESee our Professional Development site for more information and other trainings and workshops.
For additional information, contact Jane Herder, Outreach Director at jane.herder@msb.dese.mo.gov or 314-633-1582.
- Special Education Finance Monthly Webinar – September 1, 2026
Source: Special Education Finance
Intended Audience: Superintendents, Special Education Directors, Bookkeepers, Financial Administrators
Date: August 25, 2026
The Special Education Finance Section will be hosting the regularly scheduled monthly training webinar Tuesday, September 1 at 9:00 a.m. Topics will include the ASBR, Debarred and Suspended Status, Identification of Awards, and High Need Fund Application.
This webinar will be recorded and available on the Special Education Finance Training webpage.
To attend the monthly fiscal webinar, please go to WebEx or dial 650-479-3207 to join by phone.
Meeting Number: 2632 745 5627
Meeting Password: M3MuchByJ75These webinars are scheduled the first Tuesday of every month at 9:00 a.m. The call-in information will be the same as what is listed above for each call. If you have any questions, please email the Special Education Finance Section at spedfunding@dese.mo.gov.
- High Need Fund Students and Placements
Source: Special Education Finance
Intended Audience: Superintendents, Special Education Directors, Bookkeepers, Financial Administrators
Date: August 25, 2026
Districts delivering special education instruction and related services to K-12 students under the age of 21 with a disability served through an individualized education program (IEP) whose special educational costs exceed three times the Current Expenditure per ADA may trigger the local education agency’s (LEA’s) eligibility for reimbursement through the High Need Fund (HNF). As a reminder, for the 2026-27 school year:
The district should ensure the following is reported for qualifying high need students:
a. Marked in the June MOSIS Student Core file as high need
b. IEP Disability Code
c. Last Placement (educational environment)Services must be provided by DESE-approved private agencies within the state or an adjacent state for reimbursement. The DESE-approved private agency list can be found here. Services provided by a private agency not on the DESE-approved private agency list will not be reimbursed.
Out-of-state residential facilities require pre-approval on an annual basis from the Special Education Finance office. Reimbursement will not be paid for services provided by out-of-state residential facilities that were not approved by DESE. Requests for pre-approval should be emailed to Sid Belt, Special Education Finance Supervisor, at Sid.Belt@dese.mo.gov.
Districts may contact Special Education Finance with questions at 573-522-2523 or Sid.Belt@dese.mo.gov.
- End of Year Special Education Summary Reports
Intended Audience: Special Education Administrators, MOSIS/Core Data Personnel
Date: August 4, 2026
The Special Education Data team is hosting a session on the Local Education Agency (LEA) End-of-Year Summaries on August 21, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. We will cover how to read the End of Year Summary Reports along with an open question-and-answer discussion. You can join the meeting at the following link.
Updated summary reports will be sent out prior to this session.
Questions can be directed to Special Education Data at speddata@dese.mo.gov.