AZ HB2729

Amends section 15-774 to restructure the extraordinary special education needs fund by establishing eligibility criteria requiring school districts or charter schools to demonstrate that a pupil's costs equal at least three times the statewide per pupil funding average.

Changes fund administration from "subject to legislative appropriation" to "continuously appropriated" and allows the Department of Education to retain up to two percent of fund monies for administration.

Establishes quarterly evaluation of claims with prioritization based on the difference between claim amounts and total funding received, and allows school districts to revise claims during the same fiscal year for additional expenses.

Requires the Department of Education to adopt annual policies and procedures for the fund and submit an annual report by December 15 detailing the number of funded claims, how monies were used, and total claims received.

Appropriates $5,000,000 from the state general fund in fiscal year 2021-2022 to the extraordinary special education needs fund and changes the support level weight for students with disabilities from 0.003 to 0.114 under category DD, ED, MIID, SLD, SLI and OHI.