SDE briefed Appropriations subcommittee on $40 million special-education appropriation, oversight and audit practices

State Department of Education (SDE) officials and staff testified March 5 about special-education funding, oversight of approved private special-education programs, and related federal and state allocations.

Committee members asked how the recently enacted emergency appropriation of $40 million for special education interacts with other funding and whether it precludes additional appropriations during the fiscal year. Agency officials said they understood the appropriation to be a one-time allocation placed in an off-budget account; they said questions about the language’s constraints and whether further funds could be added would require review from legal counsel and coordination with the Legislature.

Officials explained that excess-cost payments are sometimes paid in batches and that a final run of calculations typically occurs in May, with initial payments having gone out in February. The department said it would provide town-by-town runs showing final distributions when the calculations are complete.

Auditors of Public Accounts (APA) perform risk-based audits of approved private special-education programs under the statutory monitoring framework in Conn. Gen. Stat. §10-91g, the agency said. Agency staff said APA’s work is prescribed in law; the audits use a risk-based approach and prioritize programs receiving the greatest amounts of state or local funds or serving high numbers of students. Agency staff told lawmakers APA conducts roughly six to eight such audits per year, and the agency also performs its own monitoring and oversight. Reports from APA are submitted to the General Assembly.

Committee members asked about trends in special-education prevalence and exit rates. SDE staff said national and state prevalence rates have increased, particularly in categories such as autism, and attributed the rise to several factors: improved identification, greater attention to trauma and social-emotional needs, and broader detection in local systems. Agency staff said the department is working to ensure early, evidence-based interventions so students can be re-integrated into general education when appropriate.

The department also summarized federal IDEA funding allocations and described how federal grant dollars are distributed by formula; staff provided district-level IDEA pass-through figures in the meeting packet. Other topics covered included ARPA-funded mental-health positions and summer mental-health grants, accountability for Alliance Districts and a forthcoming January-ahead report on possible Alliance District reforms, and the estimated state costs of newly approved charter schools: the agency provided cost estimates of roughly $10.5 million in FY 2026 and about $18.9 million in FY 2027 for seven recently approved charter schools under current enrollment assumptions.

Agency staff said they will follow up with the committee on town-level excess-cost calculations, clarify legal constraints related to the $40 million appropriation language, and provide APA audit schedules and selected reports to the committee upon completion.

Ending: SDE officials agreed to provide additional town-by-town payment runs, the APA audit schedule and submitted audit reports, and other requested district-level breakdowns so lawmakers could examine distributions and oversight practices in detail.