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The Marietta School District is one of 43 Ohio disticts to settle a lawsuit with the state's Department of Job and Family services to fund a program that serves special education students whose families are eligible for Medicaid, according to the Parkersburg (WV) News and Sentinel.
The lawsuit followed the state's announcement that it would stop funding the federal Community Alternative Funding System, which serves those students. The settlement reached in a Franklin County court will grant the districts half their funding this year for core programs, but the amount may increase over time. Marietta schools must pay $60,000 this year for its core special education programs—including speech-language pathology and audiology—which is half the total cost of $120,000.
The state department of job and family services changed the working of the funding system earlier this year to make it more compliant with federal standards that mandate equal access to Medicaid programs for people of all ages who qualify. The wording change means that the program was ineligible for federal funding and the districts would have to pay thousands of dollars each year to maintain the required student programs.
The settlement agreement has mandates for both short-term and long-term solutions to funding issues related to the alternative funding system. The state's priorities are consistency in rates for all offered services and compliance with federal regulations.
Speech-language pathology, audiology, and other related services will continue to be funded in the short term at rates aligned with what other providers charge for the same service. The long-term changes that will address federal compliance and other issues could take significantly longer.
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