Special education budget jumps as RSU 22 adds technicians, reconfigures coordinator roles

RSU 22’s proposed Article 2 (special education) budget is $9,681,214.20, a 13.67% increase, driven largely by staffing additions and reassignments, Superintendent Nick Wain said during the May 14 budget workshop.

Wain told the committee the district originally projected needing 11 additional positions earlier in the budget process; after review that number was reduced to four new educational technicians to support incoming students. "We have looked through the entire special ed program, made adjustments where needed. This number, I will tell you in January, was 11. That has gone down to 4," Wain said.

The proposal also includes adding a special-education teacher at Smith School and reassigning a high-school reading teacher to a special-education teacher/case-manager role that will include IEP coordinator responsibilities. Wain described a plan to combine some k–8 IEP coordinator duties with a k–8 504 coordinator because the elementary 504 caseload does not justify a separate full-time position.

Wain clarified how students from outside the four towns are handled: students sent under superintendent agreements come with money from the sending district. "When you have a superintendent's agreement, the money goes with the student," he said, adding that RSU 22 will not bill other districts for additional per‑student costs beyond the agreed amount.

The district also discussed whether any special-education services are billable back to the state; Wain answered that special-education services in question are not billable in the way counselors or social workers may bill certain services.

Ending: The board and budget committee asked for line-item clarifications; Wain said detailed article breakdowns were included in the packet and offered to follow up on specific salary/benefit line allocations before the district meeting.