20-7-457. Funding provisions for special education cooperatives. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall pay directly to a special education cooperative the special education allowable cost payments determined pursuant to 20-9-321.

(2) A school district that elects to participate in a cooperative for special education purposes shall agree in the cooperative contract to participate for a period of at least 3 years.

(3) A cooperative that has not met the requirements of 20-7-454 may not be funded under the provisions of this section except by approval of the superintendent of public instruction. The superintendent shall adopt rules for approval of full service education cooperatives.

(4) A full service education cooperative may establish a retirement fund, a miscellaneous programs fund, and a transportation fund, as provided for in 20-9-201, for the purposes of a full service education cooperative contract and the purposes allowed by law.

(5) The superintendent of public instruction, after consulting with regional representatives, shall define boundaries for cooperatives established for special education programs that incorporate the territory of all public school districts.

(6) Restructuring of cooperatives established for providing special education services must:

(a) be limited to a statewide total of no more than 23;

(b) include districts that are adjacent to each other and not overlapping into another cooperative's territory; and

(c) provide that all districts located within a cooperative's boundary may voluntarily become a cooperative member.