District special‑education leaders presented an analysis Thursday showing the financial and service impact of Southington’s in‑district special‑education continuum.

Dr. Cavallaro, the district’s special‑education director, told the board that 143 students are enrolled in district programs and that 121 of those would likely require out‑of‑district placement if the programs did not exist. Using current tuition and transportation averages, she said the total outplacement cost for those students would be about $16,550,360. By contrast, the district’s in‑house cost for the same continuum — including teachers, related service staff and benefits — is about $7,992,349 for salaries, Social Security, MERS and health insurance.

“We looked at that analysis to look at the total outplacement costs, including the transportation versus what does it cost to educate students in the district programs,” Dr. Cavallaro said. She summarized the staffing in district programs as 27 certified staff, 69 paraeducators and 36 ABA therapists across the continuum.

Board members and administrators framed the numbers as cost avoidance rather than budget savings. “This 8,000,000, we don't have because we've never asked for it because it hasn't been needed because of our continuum of services,” Dr. Cavallaro said, explaining that the district has not historically had to request that level of funding because in‑district programs prevent costly outplacements.

Members asked for more detail on the transportation component of the outplacement total; Dr. Cavallaro said she could break the figures out by student and provide a transportation‑only subtotal on request. Board members also discussed previous procurement work the district had done to reduce costs on out‑of‑district routes.

Administrators said the analysis will inform the upcoming budget process; Dr. Cavallaro and the superintendent said they will provide a one‑page glossary of special‑education program acronyms and a simple breakdown for public materials.

The presentation prompted board members to emphasize non‑financial benefits of in‑district programs: shorter travel times for students, local access to services and greater local oversight compared with private outplacement providers. Administrators pointed out that private tuition rates for outplacements are not capped by local authorities.