NH EFA Special Education: Differentiated Aid and Priority Enrollment

Two Advantages for Students with Disabilities

A child with a qualifying disability receives two concrete benefits in the New Hampshire EFA program: additional funding and priority enrollment.

The money: Special education differentiated aid adds $2,229 per year on top of the $4,351 base adequacy grant for FY2027. If the student also qualifies for free/reduced-price meal eligibility (+$2,441), the total can exceed $9,000 annually.

The seat: Students with disabilities hold Priority Tier 3 in the enrollment cap allocation system. When applications exceed the 12,500-student cap, Tier 3 applicants are placed after renewing students (Tier 1) and siblings (Tier 2) but before income-qualified families (Tier 4) and the general pool.

Who Qualifies

A disability must be documented under one of two pathways:

Existing IEP from a public school district. If your child was receiving special education services through a public school and has an active Individualized Education Program, upload a copy with your EFA application. The IEP itself is sufficient documentation.

Medical Certification Form from CSF NH. If your child doesn't have a public-school IEP — they were homeschooled, privately schooled, or never evaluated by a district — you'll need a licensed medical physician to complete CSF NH's Medical Certification Form. The diagnosis must meet the federal definition of disability under 34 CFR 300.8, which covers conditions including specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD (under "other health impairment"), speech/language impairments, emotional disturbance, and intellectual disabilities.

A private psychologist's evaluation report alone isn't enough. CSF NH requires either the public-school IEP or the specific Medical Certification Form signed by an MD or DO.

The FAPE Waiver

This is the part many parents don't fully process until after they've signed the Parent Agreement.

When you enroll your child in the EFA, you sign an acknowledgment that placing a student with a disability in a non-public school or home setting waives their federal right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In practice, that means:

• The local public school district is no longer obligated to provide an IEP or special education services to your child
• The district retains only "Child Find" obligations (identifying children who may need evaluation) and potential equitable services
• If your child's private placement or home program doesn't meet their needs, you can't compel the district to deliver services the way you could under an active IEP

The waiver applies to the child's non-public or home placement. If your child returns to public school, contact the district about the appropriate evaluation and services. While your child is in the EFA, the responsibility for securing appropriate special education services — and paying for them — falls on you.

What EFA Funds Can Cover

The differentiated aid isn't earmarked exclusively for disability-related expenses. It's added to the total EFA balance and can be spent on any qualifying expense category under RSA 194-F:2, II. But the practical reality is that families of children with disabilities often direct a significant portion toward:

• Educational therapies (speech, occupational, physical therapy) from licensed practitioners
• Specialized tutoring from qualified individuals or entities
• Assistive technology and educational software
• Specialized curriculum materials designed for specific learning differences
• Testing and evaluation fees for standardized assessments or diagnostic updates

All expenses still flow through ClassWallet and must be approved by CSF NH. Therapy providers need to be registered as ClassWallet vendors, and invoices must meet the same itemization standards as any other EFA expense.

One Family, Two Paths

You can enroll one child in the EFA while keeping a sibling under independent RSA 193-A homeschooling. This is a deliberate design choice some families make — putting the child who needs expensive therapies on the EFA to access differentiated aid, while preserving full autonomy and privacy for a sibling who doesn't need funded services.

The critical rule: EFA funds deposited for Child A cannot be used for Child B. Mixing funds across siblings is treated as misrepresentation and triggers account revocation.

For the complete documentation requirements, therapy provider registration steps, and a budget planner that accounts for differentiated aid, see the New Hampshire EFA Parent Guide.

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