Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §7302, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1983, c. 278, §2, is further amended to read:

2. Private special education facilities; private general purpose agencies. Private agencies that operate facilities which that exclusively serve exceptional students and private general purpose agencies that receive state aid for special education programs shall comply with the following in computing tuition rates.

A. All tuition rates shall be are subject to approval by the commissioner.

B. The tuition rates shall may not exceed the actual per student cost incurred in the operation during the preceding school year.

C. The commissioner shall adopt or amend rules to define allowable expenditures used to determine per student costs.

D. An agency shall file an annual financial report detailing the allowable expenditures and the computation of the tuition rate at such time and in the form the commissioner may require.

E. Increases in the tuition rate from one year to the next may not exceed 15% the tuition rate established through negotiation unless evidence is presented to the commissioner that a hardship will exist if a higher rate of increase is not approved, and this evidence is deemed determined sufficient by the commissioner.

F. The commissioner shall establish a tuition rate for new special education programs in special purpose private schools and private general purpose agencies based on the estimated allowable costs of these schools.

Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §7302, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1997, c. 736, §1, is repealed.

SUMMARY

The Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 303, subchapter 3 prescribes 2 methods for computing special education tuition rates: one for private special purpose education facilities that exclusively serve exceptional students and one for private general purpose schools that receive state aid for