A. To the extent such funds are appropriated by the General Assembly, a school division shall be reimbursed for the cost of educating a child who is not a child with disabilities and who is not a resident of such school division under the following conditions:

1. When such child has been placed in foster care or other custodial care within the geographical boundaries of the school division by a Virginia agency, whether state or local, which is authorized under the laws of the Commonwealth to place children;

2. When such child has been placed within the geographical boundaries of the school division in an orphanage or children’s home which exercises legal guardianship rights; or

3. When such child, who is a resident of Virginia, has been placed, not solely for school purposes, in a child-caring institution or group home licensed under the provisions of Chapter 17 of Title 63.2 which is located within the geographical boundaries of the school division.

B. To the extent such funds are appropriated by the General Assembly, a school division shall be reimbursed for the cost of educating a child with disabilities who is not a resident of such school division under the following conditions:

1. When the child with disabilities has been placed in foster care or other custodial care within the geographical boundaries of the school division by a Virginia agency, whether state or local, which is authorized under the laws of the Commonwealth to place children;

2. When such child with disabilities has been placed within the geographical boundaries of the school division in an orphanage or children’s home which exercises legal guardianship rights; or

3. When such child with disabilities, who is a resident of Virginia, has been placed, not solely for school purposes, in a child-caring institution or group home licensed under the provisions of Chapter 17 of Title 63.2 which is located within the geographical boundaries of the school division.

C. Each school division shall keep an accurate record of the number of days which any child, identified in subsection A or B, was enrolled in its public schools, the required local expenditure per child, the specific disability, if applicable, the placing agency or person and the jurisdiction from which the child was sent. Each school division shall certify this information to the Board of Education by July 1 following the end of the school year in order to receive proper reimbursement. No school division shall charge tuition to any such child.

D. When a child who is not a resident of Virginia, whether or not such child has a disability, has been placed by an out-of-state agency or a person who is the resident of another state in foster care or other custodial care or in a child-caring institution or group home licensed under the provisions of Chapter 17 of Title 63.2 located within the geographical boundaries of the school division, the school division shall not be reimbursed for the cost of educating such child from funds appropriated by the General Assembly. The school division in which such child has been enrolled shall bill the sending agency or person for the cost of the education of such child as provided in subsection C of § 22.1-5.

The costs of the support and maintenance of the child shall include the cost of the education provided by the school division; therefore, the sending agency or person shall have the financial responsibility for the educational costs for the child pursuant to Article V of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children as set forth in Chapters 10 (§ 63.2-1000 et seq.) and 11 (§ 63.2-1100 et seq.) of Title 63.2. Upon receiving the bill for the educational costs from the school division, the sending agency or person shall reimburse the billing school division for providing the education of the child. Pursuant to Article III of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, no sending agency or person shall send, bring, or cause to be sent or brought into the Commonwealth any child for placement unless the sending agency or person has complied with this section by honoring the financial responsibility for the educational cost as billed by a local school division.

E. To the extent that state funds appropriated by the General Assembly pursuant to subsection A or B or other state funds, such as those provided on the basis of average daily membership, do not cover the full cost of educating a child pursuant to this subsection, a school division shall be reimbursed by (i) the school division in which a child’s custodial parent or guardian resides or (ii) in the case of a child who has been placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services, the school division in which the parent or guardian who had custody immediately preceding the placement resides, for any remaining costs of educating such child, whether or not such child has a disability, who has been placed, not solely for school purposes, in (a) foster care or other custodial care within the geographical boundaries of the school division to be reimbursed, or (b) a child-caring institution or group home licensed under the provisions of Chapter 17 of Title 63.2 that is located within the geographical boundaries of the school division to be reimbursed.

1988, c. 101; 1992, cc. 837, 880; 1994, c. 854; 2014, c. 790; 2023, cc. 148, 149.