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Senate panel demands documents, probes high costs and monitoring of private special-education contracts
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Summary
The commission examined the departments use of purchase-of-service contracts for special-education placements, highlighted contracts costing hundreds of thousands per student, and ordered the COMPU membership list, monitoring-unit instruments and five years of monitoring reports within five days.
During the second half of the Sept. 11 hearing, the commission shifted to the departments contracting for private special-education services and the monitoring of contracted providers.
Department officials said that in the 202324 school year 2,270 students were served via purchase-of-service mechanisms and that 159 providers were contracted to deliver services, with the departments total investment in such contracts disclosed in testimony as more than $100 million. Officials described how parents often raise proposed placements at the COMPU (programming and placement committee), and that the committees recommendations can generate procurement obligations for the department.
The senator singled out an example contract with per-student annual costs recorded in the hearing at $228,835 and asked who inside the agency agreed to that figure. The departments monitoring and compliance staff said they have created a new monitoring unit that will conduct site visits, use automatic and manual contractual penalties for noncompliance, and is being staffed (estimated 6to 8 positions). Timothy Garceda, who said he directs monitoring and compliance for private institutions, testified the unit has begun visits and will coordinate with regional service centers.
Committee members also asked about federal oversight. The chair requested documents showing the federal monitors (sndico) role (named in the transcript as Alvarez & Marshall/Alvarez & Marsal) in reviewing or approving these contracts and an explanation of federal-funds usage in specific expensive placements.
The committee issued several immediate document requests: within five business days, the department must deliver (a) the list of COMPU members who authorized the contested purchases and be ready to summon them; (b) the Pearson authorization letter and translation cost documents (previously requested); and (c) the monitoring units annual reports for the last five years and the instrument(s) to be used in visits. The senator said she would subpoena or summon officials if the information provided is incomplete.
Officials described enforcement tools in contracts (automatic invoice-system deductions and manual fines applied after monitoring unit review) but acknowledged that a rigorous, island-wide monitoring regime is only now being staffed and operationalized. The hearing closed with the committee reiterating the documentary deadlines for follow-up oversight.
