Section 7-34-C-300.203 - Maintenance of effort(a)General. Except as provided in §§300.204 (Exception to Maintenance of Effort) and 300.205 (Adjustment to Local Efforts in Certain Fiscal Years), Part B of IDEA funds provided to an LEA must not be used to reduce the level of expenditures for the education of children with disabilities made by the LEA from local funds below the level of those expenditures for the preceding fiscal year.(b)Standard.(1) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) below (Maintenance of Effort, Standard), the MDE determines that an LEA complies with the paragraph (a) above (Use of Amounts, General) for purposes of establishing the LEA's eligibility for an award for a fiscal year if the LEA budgets, for the education of children with disabilities, at least the same total or per-capita amount from either of the following sources as the LEA spent for that purpose from the same source for the most recent prior year for which information is available-(ii) The combination of State and local funds.(2) An LEA that relies on paragraph (b)(1)(i) above for any fiscal year, must ensure that the amount of local funds it budgets for the education of children with disabilities in that year is at least the same, either in total or per capita, as the amount it spent for that purpose in the most recent fiscal year for which information is available and the standard in paragraph (b)(1)(i) above was used to establish its compliance.(3) The MDE may not consider any expenditures made from funds provided by the Federal Government for which the MDE is required to account to the Federal Government or for which the LEA is required to account to the Federal Government directly or through the MDE in determining an LEA's compliance with the requirement in paragraph (a) above.7 Miss. Code. R. 34-C-300.203