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District reports rise in special‑education enrollments, out‑of‑district placements and budget pressures
Summary
Pupil personnel staff told the board enrollment of students with disabilities rose from 1,739 (Aug. 1) to 1,760 (Sept. 1); out‑of‑district placements increased from 114 to 119 and the extended‑school‑year budget is overrun, driven largely by professional services and hospitalization tutoring.
The Bristol Board of Education received an update Sept. 10 from Pupil Personnel Services about rising special‑education enrollments and related budget pressures.
Amy Martino, director of pupil personnel services, told the board that the number of students with disabilities increased from 1,739 as of Aug. 1 to 1,760 as of Sept. 1. Out‑of‑district placements rose from 114 to 119 in the same period; staff said some of the change reflected a student who moved into Bristol and required out‑of‑district services.
Martino said roughly 30 percent of newly enrolled students during the reporting period required special‑education programming. In one week in August the district received eight new students who required in‑district programming; four of those needed one‑to‑one paraeducators. She said an internal audit of 32 district programs showed each program was at or above maximum capacity.
On budget lines, Martino said the district is over budget for extended‑school‑year services, largely because professional services (out‑of‑district related services such as speech, counseling and nursing) accounted for about $98,863 of the overrun. Teacher salary lines were about $52,000 over budget and paraeducator lines were about $10,726 over due to contract changes and staffing needs; hospitalization tutoring also contributed to the summer overrun.
Martino said the district is pursuing state grant opportunities to build in‑district capacity. She noted the state’s seed grant (described in the meeting) is approximately $800,000 across three years and is intended to help districts develop new programs to reduce the need for costly out‑of‑district placements.
Board members asked for updates about substitute‑teacher processes and program capacity; Martino said staff are tracking detailed budget lines and would return with more information if requested.
Background: the district is in the process of onboarding additional staff and monitoring out‑of‑district trends; staff reported eight new in‑district students in one week in August and overall program capacities are at or above limits.
Next steps: district staff will continue to monitor placements and budgets, pursue grant funding to develop in‑district programs, and provide updates to the board.
