Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Special Education Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
RSU 22 special education director seeks four education technicians and larger reserve as federal funding remains uncertain
Summary
Lynn Wells, RSU 22 director of special services, asked the board to add four educational technicians, retain a special-education teacher, and increase the district’s special education reserve to cover rising out-of-district placement costs and uncertainty in federal local entitlement funding.
Lynn Wells, director of special services for RSU 22, presented Article 2 and told the board, "Right now we have, about 33 students coming in with IUPs for next year. That's probably the largest that I've ever seen." Wells proposed hiring four additional educational technicians and keeping an added special education teacher through next year to meet those needs.
Wells explained that out-of-district placement daily rates are set by the state and currently vary by program — roughly $225 to $400 per day — and that an individual placement can translate to approximately $40,000–$80,000 per year. She said wait lists at lower-cost programs often force the district to place students in higher-cost programs sooner to avoid service delays.
The director said the district received about $633,000 this year in the local entitlement (federal special education funding) but said, "I have no idea what that will look like for next year." Because of that uncertainty Wells urged the board to increase the special education reserve account. The board was told the reserve currently holds $100,000 and administration discussed a target of $350,000 — i.e., adding roughly $250,000 — to cover potential out-of-district placement and other sudden special-education costs.
Wells described program and staffing reclassifications that shifted costs between budget lines, including increases to self-contained program spending. She noted state regulations set caseload caps (for example, lower caps in early elementary self-contained settings and higher caps in high school) and said some of the year-over-year increases in self-contained costs reflect both changing student needs and coding shifts.
Board members asked whether the services delivered by outside providers could be done in-house; Wells said out-of-district placement is a last resort and the district exhausts internal options, including self-contained and life-skills programs, before contracting out. She also said the state is moving toward districts absorbing Child Development Services (CDS) responsibilities (3–5 year-olds) by fall 2028 and that will add responsibilities and some costs to districts while the state phases funding and operational details.
Wells asked the board to consider using fund balance to seed or grow the special education reserve; the superintendent and others cautioned that fund balance should not be used for recurring personnel costs but agreed that building a reserve for one-time or unpredictable special education costs could be appropriate. The board will revisit the reserve recommendation and Article 2 budget lines at the next budget review.
