Questar III Operations Specialist Kathy Beardsley, left, and Questar III State Aid and Financial Planning Director Michele Levings help districts maximize their state aid through Questar III’s STAC services.
When Christine Armstrong, director of pupil personnel at Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery CSD realized she was incorrectly inputting information into the System to Track and Account for Children (STAC), she called Questar III’s State Aid & Financial Planning Service for help.
After spending two long days cleaning up their forms, Questar III’s Kathy Beardsley and Steve Golas were able to find the district $340,000 in state aid. The district also made the Gold Star List, indicating 100-percent verification, something the district had not done in years.
“Without Questar III, we would be facing a huge fiscal irresponsibility,” said Armstrong. “And without their help, our state aid allotment would have been lost.”
The STAC online system is what school districts use to input student information to receive aid for program costs. Any aid for students with disabilities must be done through this system. Generally, the special education department determines the appropriate placement, while the business office handles the associated costs.
Unfortunately, some school districts do not receive the maximum amount of state aid because they improperly file their STAC reports. According to Beardsley, operations specialist at Questar III BOCES, there are generally two reasons for this. The first reason is a lack of communication between the two offices. This can happen when there is a high turnover rate in either office, as was the case with Highland Falls.
The second reason is a simple lack of knowledge on how to navigate the system or when and why the forms need to be filed. This can cause the forms to stack up (no pun intended), resulting in less aid for the district.
“With everything being so tight, it’s important that districts maximize their aid,” said Questar III State Aid and Financial Planning Director Michele Levings. “Because of the tax cap and cuts in state aid and other areas, districts simply cannot afford to leave anything on the table.”
Through its State Aid Planning & Financial Planning Service, Questar III provides three levels of service options. With the first-level option, Questar III staff will give districts an overview of the STAC process and will provide training. The second-level option, that Highland Falls opted for, is an emergency clean up combined with training. With the third-level option, Questar III will actually do the forms for the district at their school.
Since the service began in 2005, Questar III has added more and more options. According to Levings, the service was initially just a resource to make sure the information was being correctly entered. As district resources got tighter, Questar III began offering the on-site clean ups districts like Highland Falls required, or the full-service option.
The service recently expanded its assistance to districts even further by sending targeted STAC messages for special education and pupil personnel via its statewide listserv. (To sign up any new recipients, please complete the sign up/opt in “Special Education Contact Form” found at this link: http://sap.old.questar.org/stacContact.php)
Webinars and additional training programs that multiple districts can utilize at once may also be available in the future.
“I would absolutely recommend this service to others,” said Armstrong. “If there are no checks and balances, like there wasn’t with us, it can be easy for mistakes to happen.”
Check your district’s STAC verification status, by clicking here. If your district hasn’t received a gold star, consider contacting Questar III’s State Aid & Financial Planning Service for more information on how they can help maximize your state aid.
