One of the top drivers of special education funding is out-of-district tuition – tuition costs associated with students that need to be sent to other private or public specialty programs to meet their needs.
Administrators say costs for day programs can cost as much as $100,000 per student annually, while a residential placement can cost as much as $350,000 annually. Since districts by law are required to educate special education students until they either graduate or turn 22, one or two extremely high-need children can add a strain on a budget for years, while planning is difficult because a new high-need child can move into a district at any time.
State funding "does bring funds back to the district, but not commensurate with the increase of private, collaborative, and public tuition and transportation costs," Milford Superintendent Robert Tremblay wrote in an email.This is also a significant factor for the Franklin school budget and has been for many years. Franklin has taken steps to increase their capability to provide special education services to as many of their students within the district as possible.
Franklin Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski said special education costs in Franklin actually declined by $200,000 this year.
"The strength of our in-district programs and our commitment to co-teaching has enabled our educators to be successful in meeting the needs of students," she wrote in an email.
Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x853679678/Districts-grappling-with-increased-SPED-costs#ixzz2XhEIZDvq
The presentation on the Franklin school budget for fiscal year 2014 can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/03/fy-2014-franklin-public-schools.html
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