Sponsor touts tighter documentation and risk-based audits as committee advances special-education bill

Rick Ladd, chair of the state education-funding commission, told the committee that HB 15-63 is intended to reduce administrative burden, tighten documentation and establish a risk-based monitoring program for special-education reimbursements.

"One out of every $4 we spend in this state is for special education," Ladd said, and described per-pupil special-education costs he used for estimate purposes at about $70,000 to $75,000. He said the bill would lower the reimbursement threshold from 3.5 times the average per-pupil cost to 2.5 times in the first phase and require districts to document attempts to pursue Medicaid and private-insurance offsets before state reimbursement is calculated.

The bill would also require that claimed expenditures be directly tied to a student’s IEP and create a Department of Education risk-based monitoring program that would review 20% of districts’ claims each year (by digital review, site visit or…