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Special education report: Granite Falls reports staffing gains, enrollment detail and funding shifts
Summary
The district's special education annual report highlighted staffing improvements (nurses on every campus, in-person SLPs), October 1 student counts and a shift in how special-education dollars will be delivered next year, with implications for Safety Net budgeting.
Rachel Quarterman presented the Granite Falls School District's special education annual report, walking the board through the October 1 student count, recent data clean-up and changes to state funding rules that will alter how special-education dollars arrive in 2026-27.
Quarterman said the October 1 count is the key number that drives funding: "This is our October 1 student count," she said, and then shared enrollment and eligibility percentages for buildings. She noted that Mountain Way's most recent eligibility rate is 25.9 percent (down from prior reporting), preschool program enrollment is about 30 percent, and Crossroads is roughly 33.6 percent. Those shifts are partly due to administrative cleanup and the sunsetting of an agreement with Lake Stevens, Quarterman said.
Funding changes and budgeting: Quarterman explained recent state adjustments: the enrollment cap for funded students with disabilities has been removed, the excess cost multiplier has increased, and district allocations will move to BEA funds on a quarterly distribution model in 2026-27. "So we don't have more money coming into special education. It's just changing how that money is rolling out to us," she told the board. She added the district is budgeting roughly $1 million to submit for Safety Net next year (figures described as approximations in the presentation).
Staffing and services: Quarterman reported the district is now fully staffed in several key service areas, including nursing (a nurse on every campus) and speech-language pathology (three in-person SLPs plus telehealth support). She credited the special education coordinator team (Jake Brown and Jen Hines) for improved data systems and compliance templates, saying the new IEP checklist and prior-notice templates help case managers stay compliant and focus on instruction rather than paperwork.
Programs and next steps: Quarterman described expanding inclusionary preschool (an additional classroom opened), transition programs with vocational partnerships, and the rollout of trauma-informed strategies (Ukeru) for paraeducators. She noted family surveys tied to IEP meetings are beginning to come back and will inform continuous improvement. The presentation closed with board gratitude for the staffing and system improvements.
What to watch: The meeting record shows the district will move to quarterly BEA distributions in 2026-27 and that Safety Net budgeting is being planned; exact dollar amounts for grants or the levies'share were not specified in the meeting transcript.
