New Hampshire panel formed under SB 57 to study special-education costs; Ladd named chair

The commission created by Senate Bill 57 to study the cost of special education in New Hampshire held its organizational meeting, elected leadership and laid out initial information requests and topics for study.

Representative Rick Ladd, who opened the meeting and said he was the first-named representative on the bill, was nominated and elected chair by voice vote. "I'd like to start this statutory study, commission, which is looking at the cost of special education by referencing the bill. It's SB 57," Ladd said at the start of the meeting. Representative Ames was elected vice chair and Representative Megan Murray was elected clerk, also by voice votes with no recorded opposition.

The commission’s charge under SB 57, as read into the record by Ladd, includes examining referral rates by IDEA categories; increases in referrals since COVID-related school closures; interventions that could be implemented before an IEP referral; costs for services that are not Medicaid-medical in nature but are required by an IEP or Section 504 plan; district reporting of special-education costs; out-of-district placement costs and alternatives; dispute-resolution processes; use of state funds and Medicaid funding to schools; and graduation and post‑secondary outcomes for students with disabilities. "We have about 1 year to get all that done. 1 year. We'll get it done. I…