Board members reviewed several state-driven policy changes affecting special education, student discipline and transition services and discussed financial and reporting implications for the district.

Staff said the special-education policy is largely new and reflects recent legislative changes, including updated rules about outplacements and excess-cost reimbursement. Using a hypothetical example, staff described how districts submit the aggregate amount that exceeds three-and-a-half times a district’s per-pupil expenditure to the state as a claim and then the legislature allocates a portion of the total statewide pool. "In law, we should get the $1,300,000 back. In reality, what happens is the legislature only cuts a pie of a certain size that's smaller than the total of all of this the town's reimbursements," Speaker 1 said, explaining why districts rarely receive full reimbursement.

The board also reviewed statutory changes to suspension/expulsion procedures, noting new protections for certain student groups (for example, limitations on suspensions for preschool-age or homeless students) and that disciplinary rules are tightly tied to statute. Staff noted the new law includes expungement conditions for certain disciplinary records if administrative conditions are met; staff said such expungements are rare and most parents do not request them.

A new reporting requirement will require the superintendent to provide to the board — between June 1 and Sept. 30 annually at a regularly scheduled meeting — an annual report on special-education programs. That report must list the number and names of community-based organizations with which the district has executed formal MOUs/contracts to provide services, and provide attrition data (certified and noncertified) disaggregated by school and subject. Staff said they will present a draft report at the next board meeting and discuss whether certain data should be anonymized before the required third reading.

The board also discussed transition services, which the state extended from age 21 to 22. Staff described the role of the district transition coordinator and local programs that build job skills after high school; they noted the district has purchased a van and trained staff to reduce costly contracted transportation for outplacements and job-site programs.

Next steps: staff will prepare the annual special-education report for the board’s review, return with clarifications on anonymization options, and bring the new special-education policy back for adoption steps required by the board.