The Excelsior Springs School Board received a detailed special-education briefing that highlighted rising early-childhood counts, costly out-of-district placements and plans to build internal capacity.

The district’s special-education lead said the December 1 child count showed about 380 students with active IEPs (about 13.75 percent of the district), and early-childhood special-education cases rose from 21 to 33 in one year. She said the biggest increases were in autism, emotional disturbance and other health impairment categories, which often require intensive services and outside providers.

"Of the 26 students last year, we spent just under $2,000,000 to educate those 26 students," she said, adding that the average cost for those placed students was about $73,000 compared with roughly $13,000 to educate a typical student in-district. The district recovers roughly 50 percent of those costs through the high-need reimbursement program, leaving a substantial net cost to the local budget.

Board members asked whether families generally agree with out-of-district placements; the special-education director said parents are typically engaged and most understand decisions are made after extensive IEP and process steps, though she acknowledged not every situation is without conflict.

District leaders described an initiative to expand in-district programming to reduce placement costs and keep students with peers. They identified a potential physical space and outside partners (including Summit Behavior) to support program development and staff training, and said they will work with a compliance consultant and other specialists to design options.

No vote was taken; the board encouraged staff to continue planning and to present potential pilot options in coming months.