The Fresno County Superintendent of Schools (FCSS) developed a tool to help gauge an LEA’s status with meeting the Special Education MOE threshold. 

Purpose of the MOE Tool

It is all about timing. The SACS Web application itself contains a process to aid LEAs in the MOE review. There is the SEMAI reports at First and Second Interims (as of October 31st and January 31st). However, it does not prompt an LEA to review progress again until the Unaudited Actuals (UA) reporting period. This gap from January to August may be a weakness in LEAs’ ability, and possibly an obstruction in their visibility, to accurately gauge progress toward meeting MOE.  

The FCSS MOE Tool has evolved into a robust Excel spreadsheet meant to be used after the next year’s budget work is done and after June payroll, about when Year End "YE" Closing begins. By using the MOE Tool, the LEA may benefit from the following:

• Gaining a clearer picture of the LEA's current MOE status based on projected actual expenditure data (as opposed to budget data such as at first and second interims)
• Obtaining greater advantage of making Year-End Closing entries with an eye toward MOE implications rather than waiting till the end of August when filling out SACS reports
• Gaining additional time to make adjustments so the LEA can avoid an MOE failure and potential financial penalty
• Reviewing any MOE tests that exceed the threshold by a large amount. This may allow the LEA time to identify and reclassify any potential non-special education costs
• Exploring the application of exempt reductions to adjust an MOE benchmark for future years, even in a year when the LEA meets MOE in one test (but maybe not in others)

This tool has been tested and refined multiple times, and may present the user with a helpful aid in monitoring the LEA's MOE progress. The latest upgrade automates many of the features, and simply requires a 15- to 30-minute on-line review in July with the Fresno County SELPA.