Amador SELPA holds required public hearing and reviews $17 million special-education budget and services plan

The Amador County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) held the public hearing required by California law and reviewed its annual local-plan update, including the contracts and certification section, the annual budget plan and the annual service plan, Assistant Superintendent of Special Education and SELPA Director Dr. Sadie Hedegaard told the governing board. There were no members of the public who offered comments during the hearing.

Dr. Hedegaard said the SELPA is required by state statute to solicit public recommendations before the governing board considers the local plan or any annual update. "California statute requires that before the SELPA governing board considers the local plan, or any annual update to the local plan, that the governing board shall hold at least 1 public hearing in order to solicit the recommendations and comments of members of the public," she said. Materials were posted on school sites and on the SELPA website, she added.

Why it matters: the local plan documents how the SELPA provides special-education services across the county and is the basis for state and federal funding allocations. Dr. Hedegaard said the SELPA will submit the annual update to the California Department of Education (CDE) no later than June 30.

Budget and funding mix: SELPA staff presented a sublevel annual budget for combined county and district special-education operations that currently totals about $17 million. Presenters described three funding buckets: local contribution (general fund and property taxes), state special-education funding allocated under AB 602, and federal funds (IDEA). Slides shown to the board listed the combined funding split as roughly 65.46% local contribution, 28.38% state and 6.16% federal; on other slides federal funding appeared as 8.83% for selected federal programs (presenters noted numbers vary by slide and methodology). The presenters said roughly 71.7% of projected SELPA expenditures were for salaries and benefits (the presenter noted other districts typically see about 80% for personnel) while contracted services made up approximately 25.5% of the SELPA expenditures on the chart shown.

The staff presentation said the budget uses projections based on the governor's January budget proposal and historical funding levels; presenters warned amounts will be updated with the state's May revision. The team said the budget assumes a number of current vacancies will remain unfilled for the coming year and that staffing and vacancy assumptions drive the salary and services line items.

Service-plan changes: staff reviewed the SELPA annual service plan template (the list of services that may be provided to eligible students). Dr. Hedegaard said the state informed SELPAs that the template should not include one item formerly listed as "code 540 (day treatment)." She said the Department of Education intends the code to be removed because the term and the bundled concept are outdated; services previously packaged under that label will instead be listed individually (for example, counseling, social work and other educationally related mental health services) so goals and service frequency/duration tie directly to student needs.

Timeline and next steps: staff said the governance and administration section of the full local plan was approved previously and is on the SELPA website; the current submission is an annual update for the contracts/certification, budget and services sections. The SELPA will incorporate May budget revisions as available and submit the annual update to CDE by the June 30 deadline.

Ending: Board members had no questions after the presentation and the public hearing was closed. SELPA staff said they welcome follow-up questions and will return with any material changes tied to the May budget revision.