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Manchester School District warns of rising special-education transportation, health-insurance costs; may tap reserves
Summary
District finance staff told the committee that specialized transportation is projected to exceed budget by roughly $2 million, health-insurance claims have accelerated and the district expects to use expendable-trust funds for curriculum purchases and likely to support special-education lines.
Special-education transportation and rising health-insurance claims are straining the Manchester School District's budget, district finance officials told the finance committee, and staff said they expect to draw on expendable-trust reserves to cover some costs.
Karen DeFrancis, the district's executive director of finance, said the specialized-transportation line is "still expected to go over by 2,000,000." She said the out-of-district tuition line shows a current shortfall of about $558,000 and that salary, repairs and utilities lines are also running over or at risk because transportation costs have been shifted into salaries, benefits, insurance and fuel lines. DeFrancis said the district plans to draw $1,400,000 from the expendable trust for curriculum purchases and expects trust balances to be "somewhere between 24 and 25,000,000."
Frida, the committee treasurer, said the trust interest rate remains about 2.58% and that she will adjust the treasurer's report next month to reflect current spending on the Phase 1 long-term facilities plan.
DeFrancis said health-insurance claims recently averaged about $700,000 per week versus a budgeted weekly expectation of about $620,000; if that trend continues, she warned, the district could be roughly $1 million over budget on health insurance by year end.
Board member Mr. Potter pressed staff about the district's special-education enrollment, citing a figure of about 2,700 special-education students. Transportation and special-education staff clarified that the total number of students eligible for special-education services differs from the subset who qualify for specialized transportation: Kelly (special-education/transportation staff) said the district's specialized-transportation caseload is closer to about 1,000 students and that McKinney-Vento (homeless) students form a separate category that federal law requires the district to serve.
Kelly described the district's approach to McKinney-Vento transportation: the district first attempts to place eligible students on regular district buses or to reimburse parents for self-transport, then uses district resources (including newly approved non-CDL drivers and smaller vehicles) before contracting externally. Kelly said contracted specialized providers are used as a last resort and that the district is pursuing less-costly in‑district options.
DeFrancis said the district modeled a $3,000,000 savings from anticipated transportation changes into next year's budget but cautioned that the actual savings will depend on the number of students served and other variables.
The finance committee moved and unanimously approved acceptance of the financial reports during the meeting.
Why it matters: District leaders said the combination of higher-than-expected specialized-transportation costs, rising health-claims trends and planned withdrawals from the expendable trust will affect year-end balances and the fiscal picture heading into the next budget cycle. Committee members pressed staff for more detail on IEP review timing and whether all students receive required annual reviews that determine transportation eligibility.
Looking ahead, staff said they will follow up with case managers when a student's transportation status appears inconsistent with their IEP, and the special-education team will present additional details to the board at a future meeting.
