Andover special-education officials warn FY26 budget faces multimillion-dollar shortfall driven by residential placements

Nancy Koch, executive director of special services for Andover Public Schools, outlined Wednesday evening how the district’s special‑education caseload and tuitions are shaping the FY26 budget.

Koch said total students with IEPs fell from 1,154 in fiscal year 2024 to 1,054 in FY25 — a decline of 100 students — but she told the School Committee that residential out‑of‑district placements have increased and carry much higher per‑student costs.

“We have a projected savings of $400,000 based on change of placements and the new transportation company,” Koch said, describing steps the district already took to reduce this year’s shortfall. She added the district prepaid $610,000 in tuitions in spring and received $158,241 beyond its projected circuit‑breaker award this year. Those measures and projected operational savings still leave a remaining FY25 deficit of $691,276, Koch said.

Koch told the committee the administration intends to file a claim for “circuit breaker extraordinary relief” with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The district will notify DESE in February of its intent to apply, file the claim in March and expect a May decision. Koch said the amount, if any, is unknown and will depend on the pool of other districts applying and the state’s allocation.

For FY26, Koch said the district projects 61 out‑of‑district placements; a projected increase to about 13 residential placements would leave the special‑education side with a forecasted $3.5 million shortfall. After applying an estimated $252,000 in circuit‑breaker revenue and other offsets, the operating gap would be approximately $3.2 million. The administration proposed using $1.0 million of the district’s circuit‑breaker reserve and other operational savings to reduce the FY26 operating impact, leaving an outstanding special‑education shortfall of roughly $812,000 to resolve, Koch said.

Koch described several cost‑management proposals in the special services presentation that do not require additional staff‑funding requests for FY26. Those include:

- Adding an elementary language‑based teacher by reassigning (not adding) staff so the elementary language‑based teacher count rises from two to three without an additional FTE; - Building internal capacity for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices and evaluations to reduce reliance on outside contractors, again using existing staff when possible; and - Converting many standardized evaluations from paper protocols to a subscription digital platform from Pearson (described by staff as “Pearson Q‑global”) with an annual subscription cost the presenters put at about $20,462 and projected recurring device refresh costs estimated at $10,278 per year after initial iPad purchases.

Andrea Veil, assistant director of special services, emphasized that the move to digital protocols reduces long‑term storage of paper protocols (required to be retained for seven years beyond a student’s graduation or aging out) and that the subscription gives unlimited access to protocols without buying new paper kits.

Committee members questioned how the reallocation of existing special‑education staff would affect caseloads and day‑to‑day work. Koch said staff reassignment would be balanced by monitoring caseloads and would not increase individual staff members’ workloads beyond current expectations.

Koch also described the district’s process for monitoring students in early interventions (for example, DIBELS screening and short‑term interventions) and reiterated that the district is working to identify students who truly require specially designed instruction while keeping most students in the least‑restrictive environment.

Koch and Veil emphasized the volatility of special‑education placements — students qualify, age out or move in and out throughout the year — and presented the budget figures as forecasts that will be refined by the May child count and ongoing case reviews.

The School Committee and administration plan to continue working with the business office to bring updated financials to the committee’s next regularly scheduled meeting, reflecting actuals through December and any changes to projected placements.

Votes at the meeting did not decide any special‑education program changes; the only formal vote recorded in the transcript was to adjourn at the end of the session (Motion: adjourn; outcome: passed 5–0).

Koch said the district will not assume it will receive extraordinary relief from DESE and will combine any award with operational savings and the circuit‑breaker reserve to close the FY25 shortfall and reduce the FY26 exposure.

The administration asked the committee for guidance on the FY26 budget path and said it will return with refined numbers as counts and placements firm up in spring.