House Bill 3 Industry-Based Certification Examination Reimbursement Frequently Asked Questions

TEA IBC FAQ

last updated 4/26/2021

House Bill 3 (HB 3) Industry-Based Certification

Examination Reimbursement

Frequently Asked Questions

We’ve shared some of our most frequently asked questions to help you out!

The HB 3 Industry-Based Certification (IBC) Examination Reimbursement FAQs will be modified

periodically to ensure a consistently accurate document.

Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Please contact Advanced Academics at

advancedacademic[email protected]

with additional questions.

In which category does your question exist? Sections are bookmarked for a category question index.

Select the category section title in the chart below for a bookmarked set of Q & As or select a specific

question for a quick response.

(A) IBC Definitions and Cost

(D) Reimbursement Process and Reporting

(B) Policy Overview

(E) School Finance

Section A: IBC Definitions and Cost

A.1) What is an Industry-Based Certification?

A certification is a validation that an individual possesses certain skills, usually related to an occupation

and measured against a set of accepted standards. An occupation may have multiple certifications, with

different levels of expertise. An individual earns a certification by successfully passing a test or battery of

tests. Certifications are not administered by an institution of higher education; instead, certifications are

administered by a certification body, usually an organization such as a trade association or industry-

approved testing entity. Certifications are often time-limited credentials, where individuals need to

meet ongoing requirements to maintain the currency of the certification. Earning an IBC is one of the

multiple ways

students can prove they are College, Career, and Military Ready for A-F accountability.

A.2) Where can I learn more about IBCs?

TEA has a webpage dedicated to IBCs that can be found on the Career and Technical Education (CTE)

website

A.3) What are the approved IBCs and certifying entities?

TEA vetted and approved a list

of 244 certifications for A-F accountability. Additionally, the C226 table

has been added in PEIMS for the 20-21 school year which lists the approved certifying entities for each

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last updated 4/26/2021

certification. A spreadsheet with both the C214 certification codes and the aligned C226 certifying

entities will be posted on both the IBC and CTE webpages. Only the certifications awarded by these

certifying entities are eligible for reimbursement. The code table will be helpful in guiding districts

through the PEIMS submissions.

Section B: Policy Overview

B.1) What is the Industry-Based Certification reimbursement policy?

A school district is entitled to a reimbursement from TEA for the amount of a subsidy paid by the district

for a student’s certification examination under Texas Education Code (TEC) §29.190(a).

B.2) Who is getting reimbursed?

The district is the entity that receives reimbursement from TEA for paying for an eligible student to take

an IBC (TEC §39.0261(a)(3

)).

B.3) For which students will the district get reimbursed?

The district may claim reimbursement for students enrolled in the 9

-12

grade (through the summer

after graduation).

B.4) What is reimbursable?

TEA may reimburse a district for one passed exam per eligible student. If the student fails the exam, the

district may not request reimbursement.

B.5) The student has taken an exam with multiple components, such as Cosmetology. How can the

district report this for reimbursement?

LEAs may request reimbursement for either one or both parts of a multiple-part exam; however, the

reimbursement request must be submitted at one time. For example, a student who wishes to earn the

Cosmetology Operator License must complete both a written and practical examination. If the student

only completes one part of the exam (the written, but not the practical), the LEA may submit the written

exam for reimbursement and the practical exam would not be reimbursable. If the district wants to be

reimbursed for both parts of the exam, they must wait until the student completes both exams and

submit for reimbursement at that time.

Again, an LEA may receive reimbursement once per eligible student for an industry-based certification.

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Section C: Student and District Eligibility

C.1) Which students are eligible for reimbursement?

eligible student: An eligible student is:

• enrolled in Grades 9-12* at the time of examination; and

• a Texas public school student; and

• successfully completes the CTE program/course of the district in which the student received

training and instruction for employment; OR

• is enrolled in a special education program; and

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• Passes the certification examination

*TEA has extended reimbursement eligibility to include students from Grade 9 – Graduation (through

August 31).

C.2) What are the eligibility requirements for districts?

For the district to receive reimbursement, the district must:

• Report to the state the name of the student, the certification earned, the cost of the

examination, and the certifying entity through the Public Education Information Management

System (PEIMS); and

• Retain local records that the student passed the certification examination

C.3) Can private schools receive reimbursement?

No, private schools are not eligible for reimbursement.

C.4) Can homeschooled students receive reimbursement?

No, homeschooled students are considered private school students in the State of Texas; therefore, they

are not eligible for reimbursement.

C.5) Can charter schools receive reimbursement?

Yes, public, open-enrollment charter schools are eligible for reimbursement.

C.6) When is a student eligible to begin taking a certification exam?

Starting in the 2019-2020 school year, a student is eligible to take a certification exam on or after

September 1 of their 9

grade year.

C.7) What is considered a “School Year”?

TEA defines the school year for reimbursement as September 1 – August 31.

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Section D: Reimbursement Process and Reporting

D.1) When will districts be reimbursed?

For the 2019-2020 school year, TEA settled up in April 2021. Districts can review their student-level IBC

reimbursement data within the TEA Login (TEAL) Accountability application under the HB 3 tab. For

more information on deciphering the reimbursement codes, districts can review this flowchart.

For the 2020-2021 school year, districts received estimated Foundation School Program funding

allocations, which can be found in line 40 of the Summary of Finance

report. TEA will reconcile eligible

expenditures during the settle-up process in April 2022.

This process repeats annually. 2021-2022 allotments will settle-up in April 2023.

D.2) How will the district need to report to TEA to be reimbursed?

a) Cost Guidelines

Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year and all subsequent submissions, districts will report in PEIMS the

certification earned, the cost of the certification, and the certifying entity.

Revised

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TEA will reimburse the first certification earned that is reported with a cost greater than $0. LEAs must

put “0” in the cost field if they do not wish to receive a reimbursement for that certification and put a

viable cost if they DO wish to receive reimbursement for that certification.

Only one reimbursement per student throughout Grades 9-12 will be provided; therefore, LEAs should

only report a cost greater than $0 for the certification for which they wish to be reimbursed.

For example:

Johnny took earned a Microsoft Word certification in Grade 9 and then an Aerospace Manufacturing

certification in Grade 11. Both certifications would be reported in PEIMS during their respective

submission periods; however, if the district would prefer to receive reimbursement for the Aerospace

certification because it is more expensive, the district would report a viable cost for the Aerospace

certification and a cost of “0” for Grade 9 Microsoft Word reporting. TEA would not reimburse the Word

certification but would reimburse the Aerospace certification.

Alternatively, if the district reports a viable cost for the Grade 9 Microsoft Word certification, TEA would

reimburse for that certification and would not be eligible to be reimbursed for the Aerospace

Manufacturing certification. Processes may need to be developed at the local level to determine how,

when, and which certification the district would like to receive reimbursement considering only one

certification can be reimbursed throughout the high school lifetime of the student.

b) Reporting Windows

Districts must report certifications within the correct reporting windows. PEIMS will report fatal errors if

districts do not report within the appropriate window:

Type of Student

If an IBC was earned

then report the IBC in the following TSDS PEIMS Collection:

2019-2020

2020-2021

2021-2022

From

Summer

(Sub 3)

Fall

(Sub 1)

Summer

(Sub 3)

Fall

(Sub 1)

Currently enrolled

student, student

enrolled in 2019–

2020 SY (leaver),

or 2020 graduate

September 1,

2019

May 31,

2020

(if not reported in

19–20 Summer

Submission)

Currently enrolled

student, student

enrolled in 2019–

2020 SY (leaver),

or 2020 graduate

June 1, 2020

August 31,

2020

Student ever

enrolled during

2020–2021 SY

(including 2021

graduate)

September 1,

2020

May 31,

2021

Currently enrolled

student, student

enrolled in 2020–

2021 SY (leaver),

or 2021 graduate

June 1, 2021

August 31,

2021

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D.3) What was the process for submitting cost and certifying entity for the 2019-2020 summer

submission data?

2019-2020 PEIMS summer submission (IBC exams passed by students enrolled in Grades 9-12 between

September 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020) did not include the option for LEAs to submit this data.

Since the 2019-2020 PEIMS summer submission will only allow LEAs to report certification earned, TEA

developed a one-time process and one-time reporting deadline extension to collect the cost and

certifying entity information for reimbursement.

Districts were instructed to extract certain 2019-2020 PEIMS data elements

from their student

information systems (SIS) into a separate spreadsheet and submit via Qualtrics. TEA then processed the

data for reimbursement.

D.4) What are the reporting requirements for students?

Once passing the exam, the student should provide results to their district. Districts should keep local

records and be prepared to submit proof of student’s passing upon request for auditing purposes.

D.5) Can a district get reimbursed for paying for both the SAT/ACT/TSIA and an IBC for a student?

Yes. The college preparation assessment reimbursement and IBC examination reimbursement are two

separate pieces of legislation that do not overlap.

D.6) Can districts charge students for the certification exam and reimburse students later?

The intent of the legislation was to remove all barriers (including financial) to allow students to earn an

industry-based certification for free, giving them increased access to postsecondary options. Districts

may need to create local policy on how to provide a free certification examination to students that

passed.

D.7) What if a student misses the exam?

TEA will only reimburse for passed exams.

D.8) In the event that a student moves districts during the school year, which district will

get reimbursed?

TEA will reimburse the highest cost, first-reported IBC exam in PEIMS with an associated cost greater

than $0. Since only one reimbursement per student in Grades 9-12 will be provided, LEAs should only

report a cost greater than $0 for the certification for which they wish to be reimbursed.

If multiple LEAs report a cost for the same certification for the same student, the first LEA will be

considered for reimbursement (the LEA in which the student was enrolled at time of examination AND

the LEA that paid for the certification examination). LEAs should utilize the TREx platform to minimize

duplicate reporting.

Please see the below example scenario for additional guidance.

Scenario: Student earns IBC in fall of 2019 in District A and District A paid for the exam. District A reports

the information for PEIMS, including cost. Student then transfers to District B in February 2020.

Response: Since District A paid for the exam, District A should report the certification and will be

reimbursed for the expense. For accountability, District B would not report the IBC as District A’s

reporting for the student will be reflected when the annual grads are reconciled by Performance

Revised

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Reporting; even though District A reports the IBC, the credit follows the student to the district from

which they graduate.

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Section E: School Finance

E.1) Where is the estimated funding? How much did our district receive?

For the 2019-2020 school year, districts received estimated Foundation School Program funding

allocations. The amount of estimated funding may be found on line 40 of the Summary of Finance

report. This process repeats annually.

E.2) How did the State calculate advanced funding?

For the 2021-2022 allotments, TEA calculated funding as follows:

• FORMULA: Statewide CTE enrollment (9-12

graders) x Statewide percentage of IBCs earned x

growth projection = Projected IBCs earned

• PLUG IN DATA: 805,496 CTE Students x 10.7% pass rate x 2 for growth = 172,376

• PROJECTED COST: 172,376 x $50 (avg cost of IBCs reimbursed) = $8,618,807.20

• COST PER STUDENT: $8,618,807.20/805,496 = $10.70 per student

• YOUR DISTRICT ALLOCATION: District CTE enrollment x $10.70 per student = 2021-2022

estimated allotment

E.3) What is the settle-up process?

The settle-up process is a well-known process in school finance during which the district reconciles funds

with TEA. TEA plans use self-reported PEIMS data to determine final funding. Please see question D.2 for

more information.

E.4) Can the alternative funding sources (like the College, Career, and Military Readiness Outcomes

Bonus, Perkins federal/state funding, and/or IBC grants) pay for IBC administration?

If requesting reimbursement, districts may not use alternative funding sources to pay for IBCs. However,

districts may use these alternative funding sources to pay for additional exams or certification exams

that were not passed.

E.5) What PIC code should be used to make purchases of exams?

There is no formal PIC code to track the purchase of exams. Since the allotment is distributed through

the Foundation School Program, the district should develop and follow local policy to track the

expenditures.

E.6) If a student doesn’t pass the exam, what PIC code should be used for the expense?

The district may use PIC 22 (State CTE funding), PIC 38 (Outcomes Bonus) or federal Perkins funds to pay

for additional and/or unpassed exams.

E.7) Are there any restrictions on use of funds?

These funds may only be used to pay for the certification exam for students who have met the criteria

listed in Question C.1. These funds may not be used for any other purpose. Preparation fees,

fingerprinting, programmatic fees, or any other costs may not be reimbursed.

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E.8) Is the September 2019 IBC funding that districts received going to be distributed annually?

Meaning, should districts expect to receive another set of estimated funds with the same guidelines in

September 2020?

Yes, the estimated allotments will be calculated and distributed in September of every year.

E.9) How do districts determine the cost of an exam when purchasing site licenses or training

materials?

The state will not reimburse the cost of the entire site license – only the cost per student per exam.

Districts are responsible for calculating the individual cost of an exam when taking advantage of site

licenses. TEA released detailed guidance

for districts who need further clarity on how to disaggregate

site license exam costs for reporting.

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