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School Year 2025-26 Separate Public Special Education  Program Application

Please note updated important information related to separate public special education programs under Public Act 103-0644.

• A list of approved programs for school year 2024-25 is posted on the ISBE Special Education webpage under "Specialized Placements."
• The new 2025-26 application is posted on the ISBE Special Education webpage under "Specialized Placements."
• All programs or facilities seeking qualification for reimbursement need to apply annually by submitting a completed application to publicsped@isbe.net.
• Applications should be submitted as soon as possible to provide sufficient time for the Illinois Purchased Care Review Board to gather expenditure data and calculate a rate for the 2025-26 school year, but no later than Aug. 15.

Separate public special education day school programs must have a daily (per diem) rate approved by the Illinois Purchased Care Review Board. ISBE has contracted with MGT of America Consulting, LLC to assist with the calculation of the daily rates and is currently developing a data collection template and instruction manual for the field. We will release more information in the coming weeks regarding the data collection process to calculate separate public special education day school program rates.

PA 103-0644 stipulates that a “Separate public special education day school” means a separate special education program or facility that is established by a school district, public school, Regional Office of Education, or cooperative exclusively to meet the needs of special education students who cannot be educated in the general school environment and that provides services comparable to a private special education school.

Criteria for a separate public special education day school to the eligible under 105 ILCS 5/14-7.02 are:

• Program located in a separate building,
• Students enrolled are 100% removed from general education,
• The program does not serve general education students, and
• The program does not have general education students in the building nor are the special education students attending classes with general education students.

Questions related to programs under PA 103-0644 can be sent to publicsped@isbe.net.

The Illinois State Board of Education is the State Education Agency for Illinois. Our mission is to provide each and every child with safe and healthy learning conditions, great educators, and equitable opportunities by practicing data-informed stewardship of resources and policy development, all done in partnership with educators, families, and stakeholders.

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