Listserv News and Updates

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

Special Education Finance 2nd Monthly Payment Request December 2024

Source: Special Education Finance

Intended Audience: Special Education Directors, Financial Administrators, ECSE Directors

Date: December 18, 2024

Due to the upcoming state holidays, December’s 2nd Monthly School Payment Request deadline for requesting IDEA Part B ECSE 611, and ECSE 619 federal funds has been changed to December 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. This will allow the DESE accounting department adequate time to complete the payment process. Any payment requests submitted after December 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. will be paid in the 1st Monthly School Payment in January 2025.

Step-by-step guidance on completing an IDEA Part B, ECSE 611, and ECSE 619 federal payment request can be found at: Part B Payment Request Guide FY25 | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (mo.gov).

If you have any questions, please email the Special Education Finance section at spedfunding@dese.mo.gov. 

Special Education District Profiles and Dashboard

Source: Mary Corey, Special Education Data

Intended Audience: Superintendents and Directors of Special Education

Date: December 18, 2024

The 2023-24 public dashboard of the Special Education Profile is available at https://apps.dese.mo.gov/MCDS/Visualizations.aspx?id=31. The public dashboard includes LEA performance and status in relation to state targets.

The secure version of the Special Education District Profile containing 2023-24 data is available on the Missouri Comprehensive Data System (MCDS) Portal. An LEA’s secure Profile is only accessible by that LEA. Instructions for logging in and accessing the secured Profile are available at https://dese.mo.gov/special-education/data-reports under Part B (Age 3 to Age 21).

If you have comments or questions, please contact the Special Education Data section at SpedData@dese.mo.gov.

2025 Transition Training Institute – Facing the Future—Together – SAVE THE DATE!

Source: Office of Special Education

Intended Audience: Superintendents, Middle and High School Principals, Special Education Directors, General and Special Education Teachers, Counselors, School Psychologists, and Parents

Date: December 16, 2024

The 2025 Transition Training Institute will be held in-person June 25-27, 2025, in Columbia, MO, at the Holiday Inn Executive Center.

The institute will focus on programs and structures to support students in graduating and moving toward postsecondary goals. There will be a variety of presentations which will focus on compliance, transition assessments, transition to employment, independent living, postsecondary education, community relationships, instructional practices, use of technology, agency collaboration, and transition planning with an emphasis on students with special needs. Specific enrollment instructions and additional information will be provided later.

If you have questions, please contact Marsha Campe at 573-751-2512 or Marsha.Campe@dese.mo.gov.

2023-24 Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) Final Expenditure Report (FER) Now Open

Source: Special Education Finance

Intended Audience: Special Education Directors, Financial Administrators, ECSE Directors

Date: December 6, 2024

The Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) Final Expenditure Report (FER) for claiming reimbursement on 2023-34 expenditures is available for data entry and is due on or before January 15, 2025. 

Expenditure data will autofill into the ECSE FER from the last submitted 2023-24 general ledger and the 2023-24 Annual Secretary of the Board Report (ASBR). All ECSE expenditures paid with ECSE 611, ECSE 619, state, county, and local funds must have the correct combination of source and project codes in the 2023-24 general ledger and the 2023-24 ASBR in order for the expenditures to pull over to the ECSE FER grid and supporting data pages. Refer to the list below for the correct combination of source and project codes (source-project) for ECSE expenditures. 

Federal Paid ECSE Expenditures: 

4-44200 ECSE 611 Expenditures

4-44201 ECSE 619 Expenditures

 

State Paid ECSE Expenditures:

3-12810 State ECSE Expenditures

 

County Paid ECSE Expenditures:

2-12810 County ECSE Expenditures

 

Local Paid ECSE Expenditures:

1-12810 Local ECSE Expenditures

Any revision to the 2023-24 ASBR impacting ECSE expenditures may require the LEA to complete a 2023-24 IDEA Part B FER revision. LEAs should contact the district's Special Education Finance Technical Assistant to determine if a 2023-24 IDEA Part B FER revision is necessary.

In addition, personnel data must be properly coded in the 2023-24 Missouri Student Information System (MOSIS) files in order for the data to display in the ECSE FER. If updates to personnel data are necessary, changes must be made and certified through the MOSIS system. It is not necessary to update caseload information to reflect end-of-year caseloads in the MOSIS educator files. All ASBR expenditure and MOSIS personnel data errors must be resolved before the LEA can submit the ECSE FER. 

Additional information and step-by-step instructions for completing the ECSE FER are available in the ECSE FER Instructions https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/ecse-fer-instructions. The ECSE Expenditure Guide is also available at ECSE Expenditure Guide | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

If you have any questions, please email the Special Education Finance Section at spedfunding@dese.mo.gov.

Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) Resources, Assessments, and Annual Reporting

Source: Lisa Ivy, Office of Childhood Administrator and Mark Wheatley, Office of Special Education Assistant Commissioner

Intended Audience: Local Education Agencies

Date: December 5, 2024

Local education agencies (LEAs) are receiving this notification to make you aware of House Bill (HB) 447, Section 161.396 which established the Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) Act in the state of Missouri for children birth to five years of age. The purpose of the LEAD-K Act is a national effort to promote kindergarten readiness to ensure children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have a strong language foundation to be ready for school.

LEAs are being informed about LEAD-K resources, assessments, and the required state report due August 2025. Please familiarize yourself with the following LEAD-K information:

The 2025 LEAD-K state report will be aligned with the early childhood outcomes (ECO) for children birth to five years of age that are already collected by Early Intervention, First Steps-Part C, birth to three years of age and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE)-Part B, three to five years of age.

LEAs are not required to report anything differently to DESE for LEAD-K, however a new field called “Secondary Disability” has been added to the MOSIS Student Core files. Please use this field to report a secondary disability category of hearing impairment/deaf and/or visual impairment/blind for students PK-12, if applicable.

If changes are made in the future to House Bill 447, LEAs will be notified if their role or responsibilities need to be altered to assist DESE in the LEAD-K Act.

LEA questions can be directed to the Office of Childhood, Quality Programs Preschool (ECSE) Section at 573-751-6793 or Preschool@dese.mo.gov, Subject Line: LEAD-K.