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Manhattan-Ogden officials urge state to close special-education funding gap; district supplements $4–$5 million annually
Summary
District leaders from Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 told visiting legislators and state-board members the state reimburses roughly 75% of special-education costs and urged action to reach the statute’s 92% target; Superintendent Kirk Reed said the district currently covers about $4–$5 million a year from local funds.
Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 leaders pressed for higher state special-education reimbursement at a legislative-preparation meeting, saying the district’s shortfall forces officials to shift local dollars away from other programs.
“Right now we’re currently at about 75%. We’d like to see that at 92%,” said Kurt Herman, a trustee involved in the board’s legislative priorities. Superintendent Kirk Reed said the shortfall requires the district to supplement special education “to the tune of $4 to $5,000,000 a year,” which reduces money available for other instructional programs.
Board members and district staff described three interlocking pressures: rising identification and complexity of student needs, teacher and specialist shortages that force consolidation of district-level programs, and federal reimbursement (IDEA) that they say is less than expected. The board cited the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding shortfall as a compounding factor; speakers said federal IDEA funding does not meet the roughly 40% level some districts expect.
District administrators described program and enrollment impacts. Assistant Superintendent Nathan Downs said the district operates multiple “district-level” special-education programs (including two elementary classrooms such as Amanda Arnold) and estimated between 40 and 50 elementary students in those two programs and roughly 60 elementary students in low-incidence services across the district, plus about 20 elementary students with severe and persistent mental-health needs.
Those program obligations, the superintendent said, are expensive. “We’re supplementing to the tune of $4 to $5,000,000 a year,” Reed said, adding that the district sometimes must move dollars from the local option budget and other general funds to meet special-education legal obligations.
Trustees and staff also urged state lawmakers and the State Board of Education to reevaluate how special-education funding is handled inside the larger school-funding formula. Reed recommended examining other states’ approaches and increasing flexibility for at-risk transfers so local districts can use available funds to help salaries and retention—the district’s largest cost pressure.
Board members asked visiting legislators and state-board representatives to make 92% reimbursement a legislative priority; the board noted the State Board of Education was expected to vote on legislative priorities the coming week. No change in law or appropriation was voted on during the meeting.
Next steps: district leaders said they will continue to provide legislators with district-level data and to urge that special-education reimbursement and formula flexibility be considered in the upcoming legislative session.
