| (a) Purpose. In accordance with the Texas Education Code (TEC), Chapter 22, Subchapter D, each year the Texas Education Agency (TEA) shall distribute staff salary allotment funds to eligible entities for the purpose of making payments of health care supplementation to eligible employees, as specified by the provisions delineated in this section. (b) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. (1) Eligible entity--An eligible entity is defined as: (A) a school district or other educational district whose employees are members of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS); (B) a participating open-enrollment charter school; or (C) a regional education service center. (2) Full-time employee--An individual is employed as a full-time employee if the individual: (A) is a participating member of the TRS; (B) is employed by an eligible entity; (C) is not a retiree covered under the Texas Public School Retired Employees Group Benefits Act established under the Texas Insurance Code, Chapter 1575; (D) is not a minimum-salary-schedule employee; and (E) works for an eligible entity or any combination of eligible entities for 30 or more hours each week. (3) Minimum-salary-schedule employee--A classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time counselor, or full-time nurse subject to the minimum salary schedule under the TEC, §21.402. (4) Part-time employee--An individual is employed as a part-time employee if the individual: (A) is a participating member of the TRS; (B) is employed by an eligible entity; (C) is not a retiree covered under the Texas Public School Retired Employees Group Benefits Act established under the Texas Insurance Code, Chapter 1575; (D) is not a minimum-salary-schedule employee; and (E) works for an eligible entity or any combination of eligible entities for fewer than 30 hours each week. (5) Staff salary allotment--An allotment made up of the health care supplementation funding an eligible entity is due under the TEC, Chapter 22, Subchapter D, based on the entity's number of full-time and part-time employees. (c) Reporting. For each designated report month, each eligible entity must report to the TEA the number of full-time and part-time employees eligible to receive health care supplementation, as determined by the eligible entity in accordance with requirements established by the TEA in this section. The TEA may dispute, seek verification of, or conduct an investigation regarding the reported number of employees and staff at any time after receiving the report. (d) Eligibility. For the purposes of this section, an individual is eligible to receive health care supplementation if the individual: (1) is employed by an eligible entity; (2) is a full-time employee, as defined in subsection (b)(2) of this section, or a part-time employee, as defined in subsection (b)(4) of this section; (3) is not a minimum-salary-schedule employee, as defined in subsection (b)(3) of this section; and (4) has provided written election of whether to designate a portion of the individual's compensation to be used as health care supplementation, in accordance with the TEC, §22.105. (e) Funding formula. The funds for health care supplementation will comprise the staff salary allotment. Funding for the staff salary allotment is based on the number of employees who are eligible and the full- or part-time status of those employees. The staff salary allotment will be paid to the eligible entity as part of its regularly scheduled payments from the Foundation School Program (FSP). If the eligible entity is not scheduled or eligible to receive FSP payments, the staff salary allotment will be paid to the entity in a separate payment. (1) During the school year, the staff salary allotment will be based on the sum of: (A) an amount equal to the estimated number of full-time employees multiplied by $500; and (B) an amount equal to the estimated number of part-time employees multiplied by $250. (2) The final staff salary allotment due to an eligible entity for a school year will be determined by the reports of eligible employees submitted to the division responsible for state funding during the settle-up processes as described in subsection (f) of this section. (3) The formula for determining the final staff salary allotment is as follows. (A) The data submitted by an eligible entity to the division responsible for state funding is used to calculate the entity's staff salary allotment. (B) Each month, the count of full-time employees is multiplied by $500/12. (C) Each month, the count of part-time employees is multiplied by $250/12. (D) The final staff salary allotment is determined by summing the monthly amounts for the full-time and part-time staff for the state fiscal year beginning September 1 and ending August 31. (f) Settle-up. The TEA may make adjustments to previously reported numbers and may make a corresponding increase or decrease in funds that would otherwise be remitted to an eligible entity at any time after receipt of a report. A final determination of the staff salary allotment due to an eligible entity will be based on the reports of eligible employees submitted to the TEA division responsible for state funding. (1) Near-final settle-up. Eligible entities must submit proposed adjustments to reports of eligible employees for a school year by August 31 of that school year for those adjustments to be reflected in the near-final settle-up reconciliation. Additional amounts owed to an eligible entity for health care supplementation will be added to the staff salary allotment due to the eligible entity in the subsequent school year. Any reductions in payments will be subtracted from the staff salary allotment due to the eligible entity in the subsequent school year until the overpayment has been recovered. (2) Final settle-up. Eligible entities must submit proposed adjustments to reports of eligible employees for a school year by March 31 of the following school year for those adjustments to be reflected in the final settle-up reconciliation. Additional amounts owed to an eligible entity for health care supplementation will be added to the staff salary allotment due to the eligible entity in April and subsequent months of the current school year. Any overpayments from a prior year that exceed the amount owed to an eligible entity for health care supplementation by March 31 of the following school year will be subtracted from other FSP payments owed to that eligible entity in April and subsequent months until the full amount of overpayment has been recovered. Any overpayments that cannot be subtracted from the current staff salary allotment or other FSP payments will be due and payable on request from the TEA. (3) Adjustments to allotment. For a period not to exceed five years after the close of a fiscal year, the TEA may adjust the amount of an eligible entity's staff salary allotment for that year as a result of review, investigation, or audit of the eligible entity's reports of eligible employees and other data related to the staff salary allotment. |
