District warns of special‑education staffing shortfall; contracting may add $612,000 to budget
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Summary
Atascadero Unified School District staff told trustees that difficulty hiring special‑education teachers may require contracting for about 12 positions, at an estimated unbudgeted cost of $612,000. Administration outlined recruitment, retention and grant strategies.
District staff told the board that Atascadero Unified School District faces an immediate special‑education staffing shortage that could create an unbudgeted cost impact this school year.
“Due to some challenges in hiring internal special education teachers, the district has been required to contract with external providers,” Ms. Darnell, business services lead, told trustees. “The cost difference associated with a contracted teacher to an internal hire is approximately $51,000 per contracted teacher above the budgeted salary. At this time, the district anticipates the need to contract approximately 12 special education teachers representing an unbudgeted cost increase of approximately $612,000.”
Context and causes: staff and trustees discussed statewide shortages of special‑education credentials and local recruitment challenges. The district said many districts around the state face similar shortages, and that some positions (speech and occupational therapy) also have been difficult to fill. Staff pointed to lower candidate pipelines in credential programs and competition from national agencies that can recruit out‑of‑state candidates with relocation incentives.
Retention and mitigation efforts: trustees and staff described ongoing measures including a special‑education task force, exit interviews, locally funded credential supports, a recruitment and retention grant and outreach to existing paraeducators and substitutes who might pursue special‑education credentials. Ms. Darnell said the district is “exploring all available options to reduce or avoid this impact to the budget, including continued recruitment and alternative staffing models.”
Budget offsets and new revenue: the staff budget update also noted several state funding changes that were not in the adopted budget: a student support and professional development discretionary block grant (estimated for the district at just over $1,200,000, one‑time), additional learning recovery/ emergency block grant funding (approx. $179,000, one‑time), and a TK LCFF add‑on described as an ongoing per‑ADA supplement (language and amount discussed in the meeting). Staff said these state funds will appear in the first interim budget update.
Next steps: administration will monitor the contracting need and present budget updates to the board. Trustees asked staff to pursue local options for retention incentives, and to continue exit interviews and the task‑force work already underway.
Ending: staff emphasized the district’s interest in “home‑grown” pathways (paraeducators pursuing credentials) as a long‑term solution and said they will report ongoing progress at upcoming budget meetings.