Manchester School District reports rise in special-education enrollment, outlines staffing and budget impacts

Assistant Superintendent Roth told the Manchester School Committee on Oct. 1 that approximately 26% of Manchester students — 3,065 in total as of the district’s Oct. 1 count — are receiving special education services through individualized education programs (IEPs). The district reported a 279-student year-over-year increase in special-education enrollment and asked the board for additional follow-up briefings on staffing, transportation and budget implications.

Roth presented district and national trends, saying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) identifications in Manchester rose from 408 students last year to 533 this year (a 31% increase) and that other health impairment (OHI) identifications rose from 520 to 868 (a 67% increase). Speech and language impairment (SLI) cases decreased from 523 to 470 (about a 10% drop). Roth noted the district’s IEP compliance work: last year the district’s IEP submission compliance rate through New Hampshire’s NESIS was 91%.

Roth reiterated core IDEA concepts, noting that FAPE — free appropriate public education — requires services at no cost to families when those services are necessary for a student to access education. "Every student is a general education student first," Roth said, describing the district’s emphasis on providing supports in general-education settings whenever appropriate and using the least restrictive…