ESSA/SLFS Financial Transparency FAQ

**These FAQs should be used in conjunction with the ESSA/SLFS Reporting Guidance. This page will be updated on an ongoing basis.  If you have questions that are not answered on this page, please submit them to ESSAFinTrans@nysed.gov. 

Other Resource Links

ESSA/SLFS Technical Guidance -- ESSA/SLFS Reporting Guidance -- ESSA/SLFS Accounting Spreadsheet

 

These FAQs are organized into four categories:

I. Report Requirement and Deadlines

II. Access to IDEx

III. Saving/Submitting/Editing

IV. Individual Entries

 

I. Report Requirement and Deadlines

Q: Why can't I download the Excel account code spreadsheet from https://www.nysed.gov/essa/financial-transparency?

A: If you're having trouble downloading the account code spreadsheet from https://www.nysed.gov/essa/financial-transparency, it may be due to using the Chrome web browser. If you use Firefox, it should download. You can also download it directly from this page, at the top, under "Other Resource Links".

Q: Does my school district have to submit this report?

A: Yes. Under the federal law, all local educational agencies (in New York State, this means all school districts and charter schools) must submit transparency reports using actual expenditures, beginning with the 2018-19 school year.  There are no waivers for this requirement.

Q: When is the report due?

A: School districts, with the exception of Dependent districts, must submit 2023-24 expenditure data by December 31, 2024. Dependent districts will need to submit by February 14, 2025.  SED will then compute per pupil expenditures and combine with other contextual information to produce a report. For 2023-24 school year data for school districts, the report will be available in Spring 2025.

 

II. Access to IDEx

Q: I am the superintendent/CEO and I cannot locate where to check the box for IDEx in SEDDAS to entitle others.

A: You will be checking the box next to “ESSA Financial Transparency (EFT)”.

Q: My superintendent granted Entitlements to my account, but I still cannot access the ESSA/SLFS report.

A: The Superintendent/CEO may have entitled your account as an account Administrator by selecting Entitle Administrator instead of Entitle Application when entitling your account, making you an Administrator but not a user.

To correct this, your Superintendent/CEO or any delegated entitlement administrator must choose Entitle Applications and then entitle you to the application they want you to have user access to (ESSA Financial Transparency (EFT)).  They can then then remove the administrator entitlements under the Entitle Administrator if they do not want you to be an Administrator.

Q: I am an entitled user to the ESSA Financial Transparency (EFT) application, but I cannot find ESSA/SLFS under My Applications.

A: You will find the form for ESSA/SLFS Report after clicking on the IRS Data Exchange application.

 

III. Saving/Submitting/Editing

Q: What do I Save/Submit first this year?

A: Here’s the sequence:

1. Calculate your District Fringe Benefit Rate in the guidance document, also linked above. 
   **Note - you will need to open this in Adobe Acrobat for the automatic calculation to work.  It does not work in internet browsers.
   The calculation can also be done manually by:
   (Total Employee Benefits in General Fund & Special Aid Fund - Other Post Employment Benefits) / Total Personal Service in General Fund & Special Aid Fund.
2. Complete, save, and submit each of your school forms.
3. After ALL school forms have then aggregated to the District form, complete, save, and submit your District form.

Q: How does my superintendent certify the information?

A: No certification is necessary. If the district form and all school forms are in submitted status, you've completed the submission process.

Q: Why does the form state, “No Response Provided” and not save my numbers when clicking SAVE or why is the submit button missing??

A: Districts have reported this behavior with Internet Explorer and EDGE web browsers, but we’ve been unable to isolate and correct the problem as yet.  Switching to Firefox seems to prevent this behavior in most cases.

Q: I don't see any forms in IDEx but I have confirmed I have the correct permissions in SEDDAS.

A: Certain versions of Internet Explorer have an issue displaying the list of forms. Switching to an alternate browser, such as Firefox, should address this issue.

Q: I don’t see my school forms; where are they located? 

A: School level information must be entered in school level forms.  You may be entitled as a district account, so by default, IDEx shows district forms.  School forms may be found by entering the institution ID, BEDS code, or school name in the “search by institution” field. 

Q. Why can’t I change certain numbers on the district form?

A: After all school forms have been saved and submitted, IDEx will sum school figures into the district form.  These figures are fixed on the district form.  To change these figures, school forms must be edited directly. 

Q: Why isn’t my district form reflecting the changes made in the school forms?

A: Each time you make a change to a school form, in order for it to be reflected in the district’s rollup, it must be re-saved AND resubmitted.  In order for the aggregation to the district form to occur, all schools must be in submitted status.

Q. Explain how different entries add up on the district level form.   

A: The district level form contains all information submitted on school level forms. The total expenditures aggregated on the district form is the sum of all schools Part I Section D Entry 13. 

Total Expenditures and Exclusions

• Districts must sum total expenditures and exclusions.   

Q: I'd like to make changes to my data, but I've already submitted. What should I do?

A: You can re-open any ESSA/SLFS school or district form and click “make changes” anytime up until the deadline. Once you've made the change, just remember to save and re-submit.  If you make a change to any school form, your district form will automatically change from submitted status back to saved.  Be sure to resave and resubmit the district form as well. 

 

IV. Individual Entries

Q: For the Fringe Benefit Rate Section, how do you define each line?

A: Each line in the Fringe Benefit Rate Section can be understood as follows:

• Total Employee Benefits in General Fund, Special Aid Fund, & School Food Service Fund: Each ST-3 account code ending with an object of expenditure of “.8” for all codes not reported as an exclusion.
• Other Post-Employment Benefits: Other post-employment benefits (OPEB) represent the cost of providing non-pension benefits to former employees. These benefits principally involve health care benefits but may also include life insurance, disability, legal, and other services. The cost of providing such benefits to former employees paid out of the district’s annual budget (not the actuarially calculated annual OPEB expense) should be reported proportionally across all schools Part I under Section C Entry 12. 
• Total Employee Benefits for Active Employees: The difference of Total Employee Benefits in the General Fund, Special Aid Fund, & School Food Service Fund less Other Post-Employment Benefits.
• Total Personal Service in General Fund, Special Aid Fund & School Food Service Fund: All salaries for district employees not reported under exclusions.  Personal service does not include any benefits. 

Q: What is meant by “Total Personal Service” in the fringe benefit rate section?

A: Personal service should include all salaries and exclude all benefits.  Dividing personal service by total employee benefits for active employees should yield the fringe rate.  The fringe rate reflects the average benefit rate across all district employees. 

Q: Where should I report expenditures for students enrolled full-time in BOCES programs? 

A: Expenditures for students enrolled full-time in BOCES programs should be reported under Exclusions-Other.

Q: How should I report passthrough expenditures? 

A: Passthrough grants and funds which do not benefit students enrolled in a school or district program should be reported as an exclusion under Other.  For example, Expenditures paid to partners institutions of higher education or community organizations for services for students who are not enrolled in a program leading to a high school diploma or equivalent diploma should be excluded under “Exclusions-Other”.   

Q: What does the ST-3 value reflect? 

A: The ST-3 value reflects expenditures for the 2023-24 school year reported in 2024-25 SAMS for the following ST-3 codes:

+ Total General Fund Expenditures and Interfund Transfers (AT9999.0)
- Total Interfund Transfers (AT9951.0)
+ Total Special Aid Fund Expenditures and Interfund Transfers (FT9999.0)
- Total Interfund Transfers (FT9951.0)
+ Fiscal Agent Fees (V1380.4)
+ Total Principal (V9798.6)
+ Total Interest (V9798.7)
+ Total School Food Service Expenditures (CT9999.0)
- Total Interfund Transfers (C9901.9)
+ Total Public Library Fund Expenditures (LT9900.0)
+ Total Capital Fund Expenditures for Security of Plant (HT9900.0)
+ Total Permanent Fund Expenditures (PNT9999.0)
+ Total Misc Special Revenue Fund Expenditures (CMT9999.0)

Q: When is the ST-3 figure updated in IDEx? 

A: Every two weeks until December 1, then monthly thereafter.