District leaders told the fiscal advisory committee special-education costs — particularly out-of-district tuition and transportation — are unpredictable and represent a major budget pressure for the 2026–27 cycle.

Director Laura Powers and Superintendent Flynn described transportation for some outplacements as “absolutely bananas,” with one example of a private‑placement trip costing roughly $400 per day for a single student. "$400 a day times 180 days," Flynn said, describing how transportation multiplies total costs for placements.

Powers said out-of-district tuition commonly runs in the range of $120,000 to $130,000 per student (excluding transportation) and that contracted service providers for speech, occupational therapy and other services add costs when charter enrollments or placements are parental choices rather than provided within district staff. She told the committee that about 75 students are currently being served outside the district in charter settings.

The group discussed Pinkerton Academy tuition, where the district typically receives state adequacy funds and is billed by Pinkerton; the presenters said the district had used an 8% escalation to model next year’s Pinkerton costs while awaiting the official figure. By contrast, the Next charter school receives state adequacy funding directly and the district does not, so the two pathways have different budget impacts.

Ending: Administrators told the committee they would continue to refine projections and provide clearer special-education and transportation estimates at follow-up meetings; they emphasized the district’s goal of keeping students in-district when appropriate and exhausting internal supports before arranging outplacements.