Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education Funding Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Danvers schools outline special-education training, Medicaid claims push as out‑of‑district costs rise
Summary
District special-education leaders described new training, a federal grant and steps to increase Medicaid claiming as the budget projection shows growing out‑of‑district tuition costs that the district says it will cover with reserves and reimbursements.
Danvers special-education leaders told the school committee they are expanding staff training, reworking programs for language‑based learning disabilities and moving to increase Medicaid and other third‑party claims to recover revenue as out‑of‑district tuition costs rise.
The update, delivered by assistant directors Marla Dela Cruz and Derek Munyon and out‑of‑district coordinator Angelique Delacoste, outlined professional development developed after an audit by Constellations Behavioral Services and a separate federal grant to train educators in specialized reading instruction. "This analysis showed that we still need to provide more reading training for our special educators," Delacoste said.
Why it matters: Danvers has seen multiple recent out‑of‑district placements and growing special‑education expenses that have pushed the district's operating projection higher. School finance staff told the committee the district expects to close the year using existing reserves and timing of state reimbursements, but trustees were warned the pattern has repeated for several years.
District leaders described four related steps: a sequential training schedule for instructional assistants based on the Constellations audit; creation or revision of language‑based programs and master schedules (grades 3–8 alignment work with Landmark Outreach); a Crafting Minds partnership using a federal targeted special‑education program improvement grant to train K–6 teachers starting in June and continuing into 2025–26; and administrative work to improve Medicaid/third‑party claiming in PowerSchool.
Delacoste said the Medicaid/medical‑billing work already underway involved New England Medical Billing and district staff to identify claiming obstacles in PowerSchool and to create clearer entry modules for service providers. "It does come in throughout the entire year through different buckets," Delacoste said of the revenue, noting payments are variable and depend on parental consents and accurate provider entry.
Committee members pressed for benchmarks and historical figures. District staff reported roughly 100 newly returned consents this year and about 400 consents already in the system; officials said claiming had been done previously but inconsistently. Business office staff (Pam) told the committee the district is seeking to make the claims process easier for providers to reduce the time burden and increase recovered revenue.
Budget context: The district's monthly budget presentation, delivered to the committee the same evening, showed an uptick in projected out‑of‑district tuition costs. The finance presentation said the tuition projection rose from an earlier estimate just under $100,000 to roughly $242,000, driven by three recent out‑of‑district placements in the prior five to six weeks. Special‑education transportation is a separate line and rose more modestly. The report said the district expects to close the year using carryover reserves (including a circuit‑breaker reserve), and some state transportation reimbursement will be advanced this year to offset timing gaps.
Board members asked for more data, including historical benchmarks for Medicaid claiming revenue, typical annual claim amounts and the number and destinations of recent out‑of‑district placements. District staff agreed to provide that detail at a future meeting and to bring school‑level and year‑to‑date comparisons so the committee can monitor whether the new processes reduce net costs.
The update also noted work on screening SEL (social‑emotional learning) K–8, purchase of the Wayfinder SEL resource for K–12 alignment and formation of a Responsive Practices Leadership Academy following a three‑year DESE program.
The committee did not take formal action on any of the special‑education items that night; staff requested follow‑up reporting and pledged to return with more precise financial benchmarks and implementation timelines.
Ending: Staff said training and systems work will continue through summer 2025 with school‑based consultation scheduled into 2025–26 to support classroom implementation of new reading approaches and to stabilize services and costs over time.
