Erin Upton, the district’s director of special education, updated the committee on program, compliance and staffing changes designed to strengthen in‑district supports and reduce costly out‑of‑district placements. "Since July 1, we've had several students exit out‑of‑district placements ... This the number of students exiting has resulted in an overall cost reduction of 1,300,000," she said, adding the figure is fluid and could change with new enrollments or additional need for intensive programming.

Upton described a successful transition to Aspen for IEP management so teachers can view accommodations directly in the student portal, and she noted use of a Xerox translation application so families receive translated documents simultaneously with English versions. She said the district continues to contract speech‑language services because a full‑time speech‑language pathologist vacancy remains and that a 0.6 FTE job‑coach position for the Gateway program has been hard to fill.

To build in‑district capacity, Upton said the district is pursuing partnerships with Landmark School and the New England Consortium for Children to develop a language‑based middle/high‑school program and an ABA‑based intensive needs program. That work could lower out‑of‑district tuition costs but will require hiring additional special‑education staff.

Committee members asked about space and timing. Upton said available space exists for small cohorts and co‑teaching models and that year‑one work would focus on identifying students and communicating with families; longer‑term utilization could take multiple years as programs build trust and capacity.