TDOE details IDEA high-cost and special-school transportation reimbursements, new upload rules and June 3 opening

Tennessee Department of Education presenters walked local education agencies through the application process for IDEA high-cost reimbursements and State Special School Transportation (SSST), emphasizing documentation, allowable costs and timing for FY2026.

The presentation explained that IDEA high-cost funds are intended to help LEAs cover unusually expensive services for students with disabilities so they can receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Speaker 2, a TDOE presenter, summarized the federal-aligned threshold: an individual student’s general-purpose (GP) expenditures must exceed three times the state average per-pupil expenditure to qualify for high-cost consideration; the FY25 per-pupil figures are not yet available and will be posted in the application instrument. Speaker 2 also said that SSST reimbursements are narrowly confined to transportation costs for students placed at state special schools and that a student who qualifies for both programs must be submitted on the high-cost application rather than claiming both.

Why it matters: many LEAs had applications returned last year because uploaded summary templates did not match invoices, IEP…