The Weston Board of Education will receive almost $1.1 million in supplemental funding to pay for unanticipated special education out-of-district tuition during the current fiscal year.
This is in addition to the $1.48 million originally budgeted for this purpose in the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30.
Weston school Superintendent William McKersie said the special education (SPED) out-of-district placements account has been over budget in seven of the past eight years, and many nearby public school districts are experiencing the same problem.
Last year, the Weston school system had a shortfall of $800,000 in the account, McKersie said, but “through a lot of hard budget work” the school board was able to “absorb” it.
That wasn’t possible this year.
School officials have kept relevant town boards informed of this fiscal year’s possible outplacement shortfall for many months, indicating a request for supplemental funds was likely forthcoming, he said.
At the same time, the school board has been taking steps to reduce the number of students who need out-of-district placements. In-district “opportunities” are being increased by adding targeted staff and services. The Effective School Solutions program, providing individual, group and family therapy, will continue at the high school.
“For us, it’s very much a multi-pronged approach,” McKersie said.
The goal is to create a strong system in-house to better deal with issues that often lead to outplacements, such as behavioral and emotional issues.
The law requires a school system to pay to send SPED children to out-of-district schools under certain circumstances. Some placements are the result of a mediation process involving the district and parents.
“Families have to make the decisions that are best, but we want to work with them, and that’s why we’ve increased our staffing and approaches,” he said.
The 2018-19 education budget proposal presentation called the cost of unforeseen SPED outplacements a “crisis” and part of an “upward trend over the past several years.” The account deficit was as high as $1.4 million to $1.6 million for fiscal year 2017-18, according to school documents.
“It’s a real pivot point for Weston,” McKersie said. “If we don’t sort this out, these kinds of shortfalls year after year will become a real issue.”
Significant amount
The recent $1,061,852 supplemental request for the schools was approved by the school board, Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance.
“We know this is a very significant amount of money,” McKersie told the finance board before its vote. “We’re doing everything we can going into next year to mitigate any likelihood we will be facing a similar situation like this.”
First Selectman Chris Spaulding said the additional funding was needed because the number of outplacements was higher than presumed and the town has an obligation to educate every child.
Spaulding is pleased the district is pursuing “ways to augment our internal resources at the school level” so more students might stay in-district.
School board Chairman Gina Albert said the school system has a “moral and legal responsibility to take care of our neediest students.”
Albert said knowing the exact number of outplacements when finalizing a budget to take effect the following school year is difficult. “You can’t predict what will happen,” she said, adding she hopes the new budget will be closer to the actual amount needed.
The SPED outplacements budget for the upcoming fiscal year was increased to $2.65 million, which is slightly more than the amount allocated this year when including the supplemental appropriation.
About one in five students in the Weston schools is now served by special education or related services.
The overall education budget for the current fiscal year is $49.91 million, and it will increase 3.1%, to $51.44 million in the next fiscal year.
The district is adding some targeted staff, which could result in fewer out-of-district placements.
These include a second SPED assistant director so there’s one each at the elementary and secondary levels, a certified behavior analyst so there’s one at all four schools, and a second social worker so there’s one full-time at both the high school and middle school.
All school systems, McKersie said, are dealing with how to provide “robust SPED in-district” in a time of tight budgets.