IDEA Did You Know

IDEA – Did You Know…?

1.  Capital Outlay – Individual items costing $5,000 or more require prior approval by the Michigan Department of Education prior to purchase. They must also be appropriately tagged and an inventory must be maintained.

2.  Supplies –MDE expects that there will be procedures in place to manage inventory, especially of supplies subject to theft, such as Ipads.

3.  Out of State Travel – Requires prior approval by MDE. Example: It may be very beneficial to send one staff member out-of-state for an innovative in-service or model program visitation to enhance curriculum or program and service delivery.

4.  NO Co-Mingling of Funds – Under Federal guidelines, you are not able to co-mingle federal funds with state and local funds. Separate ledger and accounts should be set up to track each federal grant.

5.  Proportionate Share – You must spend IDEA funds to be in compliance with the proportionate share rule.

6.  Fringe benefits/salaries – Salaries and benefits for staff listed on federal grants must be prorated by the FTE listed on the budgets.

7.  Charging Staff to Medicaid – As long as staff is not 100% federal funded any remaining portion of their salary and benefits can be charged to Medicaid.

8.  Document contractual agreements – If you contract with staff that is to be charged to the Federal Grant, you must have on file a signed contractual agreement. The contract must document their scope of responsibility, their hourly rate, and must also include malpractice insurance.

9.  Indirect Costs – Each LEA must not exceed their current year Federal Restricted Rate when requesting indirect costs.