The Texas Education Agency (TEA) adopts amendments to §109.3001 and §109.3003, concerning federal fiscal compliance and reporting. The amendments are adopted without changes to the proposed text as published in the April 2, 2021 issue of the Texas Register (46 TexReg 2142) and will not be republished. The adopted amendments modify the existing rules to reflect changes to federal statutes, regulations, non-regulatory guidance, and delegation agreements.

REASONED JUSTIFICATION: Section 109.3001, Local Maintenance of Effort, outlines TEA's responsibility to monitor compliance by local educational agencies (LEAs) with Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B (IDEA-B) LEA maintenance of effort (MOE) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) LEA MOE. The adopted amendment to §109.3001 updates the statutory and regulatory citations and removes the handbooks previously adopted as Figure: 19 TAC §109.3001(c)(1) and Figure: 19 TAC §109.3001(c)(2). TEA has determined that the handbooks do not need to be included in rule since they do not create new regulations or rules and instead provide guidance on how TEA applies existing federal statutes and regulations to determine LEA compliance.

Section 109.3003, Indirect Cost Rates, outlines TEA's responsibility to calculate and issue indirect cost rates to LEAs and education service centers. The adopted amendments update both the rule and Figure: 19 TAC §109.3003(d) to reflect revised statutory citations and a new delegation agreement from the United States Department of Education. In addition, Figure: 19 TAC §109.3003(d) only includes information on how organizations request and apply for an indirect cost rate. Information on how subrecipients use their indirect cost rates has been removed since that information is already outlined in existing federal regulations and nonregulatory guidance.

SUMMARY OF COMMENTS AND AGENCY RESPONSES: The public comment period on the proposal began April 2, 2021, and ended May 3, 2021. No public comments were received.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY. The amendments are adopted under Texas Education Code (TEC), §7.021(b)(1), which requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to administer and monitor compliance with education programs required by federal or state law, including federal funding; and TEC, §7.031(a), which establishes that TEA may seek, accept, and distribute grants awarded by the federal government, subject to the limitations or conditions imposed by the terms of the grants or by other law.

CROSS REFERENCE TO STATUTE. The amendments implement Texas Education Code, §7.021(b)(1) and §7.031(a).