Project Initiation/Planning

Request for Certification and Release of Funds Form

All Certified Projects Must Follow NM State Policies and Procurement Code

Project Governance

Project Name

/ Special Education Maintenance of Effort
Date / January 25, 2017
Lead Agency / Public Education Department
Other Agencies / NA

Project Sponsor

/ Denise Koscielniak, Director of Federal Programs
Agency Head / Hanna Skandera, Cabinet Secretary
Agency CIO/IT Lead / John Kraman, CIO
Project Manager / Mohammad Al-Gazzali Walters
Project Abstract (Provide a brief description and purpose for this project)
The New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) Special Education Program Office is required to submit annual Maintenance of Effort (MOE) to the US Department of Education regarding program implementation data for all districts and state charter schools that serve special education students in New Mexico. This past year, the MOE report did not meet federal requirements. The existing MOE process relies on the manual processing of both student and financial data from disparate sources. The current approach is both cumbersome and error prone as well as reliant upon many full time staff at the local and state level. There are 151 local education agencies including districts and state charters that contribute data for this report. The PED as well as the US Department of Education believes that the creation and implementation of a new automated system would improve the accuracy of the MOE reporting to align with federal requirements. Toward this goal the PED Office of Special Education received funding to be used for this purpose. The risks of not utilizing this opportunity are a loss of the MOE funds as well as a portion of federal Special Education dollars for New Mexico’s special education students. In a similar situation and similar state, the US Department of Education withheld 36 million dollars of Special Education money in South Carolina.
Planned Start Date / March 1, 2017 / Planned End Date / June 30, 2017
Amount Requested this Certification / $584,000
Amount Previously Certified / $0
Remaining Appropriation not Certified / $979,999
Total Appropriated Amount / $1,563,999

Certification History (Include any previous project or phase certifications and this request)

Date
/ Amount / Funding Source(s) (use specific citations to laws, grants, etc.)
1/25/2016
(Initiation/
Planning, this request) / $584,000 / IDEA –B Federal Fund, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Total: / $584,000

Appropriation History (Include all Funding sources, e.g. Federal, State, County, Municipal laws or grants)

Fiscal Year
/ Amount / Funding Source
2017 / $584,000 / IDEA –B Federal Fund, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
$979,999 / IDEA –B Federal Fund, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Total / $1,563,999
Proposed Major Deliverable Schedule and Performance Measure

Major Project Deliverable and Performance Measure

/ Budget /

Due Date

/

Project Phase

Deliverable 1 Project Plan, Project Launch and Collaboration; identifying of key stakeholders, outreach to LEA’s and infrastructure assessment. / $162,831.00 / May 31, 2017 / Phase I
Deliverable 2 Research and Needs Assessment; research current systems, business processes, short comings of current reports. / $242,831.00 / June 30, 2017 / Phase I
Deliverable 3 Requirements and Technical Design; based on research and needs assessment the new system will be designed and be presented to TARC meeting in the same month we return to PCC. / $200,000.00 / June 30, 2017 / Phase I
Total / $584,000
Budget
Comments:
Description
/

FY17

/ FY18 / FYxx / FYxx / Total
Staff - Internal
Consulting Services / Vendors to be selected / $821,663 / $742,336 / $1,563,999
Hardware
Software
Total / $821,663 / $742,336 / $1,563,999

IT System Analysis (On this document, or as an attachment, provide a summary description of the technical architecture)

Technical architecture will be developed as part of the planning phase.

Independent Verification & Validation (Include Status of IV V Process)

IV&V vendor will be selected as part of the planning phase.

Significant Risks and Mitigation Strategy

Risk 1: Contracts not finalized by needed start date.

Mitigation 1: Minimize impact by starting work without contractor.

Risk 2: Scope change will be managed to minimize negative impact and optimize benefit.

Mitigation 2: Re-prioritize or delete tasks to complete the project within the timeframe and cost allotted.

Interoperability (Describe If/how this project interfaces with existing systems/Applications)

Data from existing systems will be used. If interoperability is necessary, it will be decided in the planning phase.
Transition to Operations: (Describe agency plan to migrate project solution to production. include agency plans to fund and maintain this project after deployment. )
Since open source software is being used, PED-ITD will maintain this project after deployment.

Revision: 6/18/13 Page 1