Legislative liaison urges Danbury board to press state for higher special-education and ECS funding
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Summary
At a Danbury School District board meeting, the district’s legislative liaison outlined shortfalls in special-education reimbursements, called for updating the ECS foundation amount (now $11,525, set in 2013), and urged sustained local advocacy with state legislators. She also summarized takeaways from a statewide student conference.
Miss Kaneta, the district’s legislative liaison, told the Danbury School District board that state conversations have centered on expanding the pool of money for excess-cost special-education reimbursements and on updating the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) foundation amount.
"If you spend 4 and a half times the cost of educating your average student, every dollar that you spend above that amount, the state has a special fund set up to reimburse for those costs," Miss Kaneta said, explaining the excess-cost reimbursement mechanism. She said districts typically receive "around 65 to 70% reimbursement on the dollar." She added that some out-of-district placements can "run upwards of $300,000 a year for a student," not counting transportation.
The liaison characterized ECS funding as based on a foundation amount of $11,525 per student, a figure she said dates from 2013 and no longer reflects current costs. "There's an additional push to have that foundation amount reevaluated for 2026," she said, and described a proposal brought to CABE's delegate convention to create a cost-of-living increase for ECS funding so the formula keeps pace with rising operating costs.
Miss Kaneta recommended continued, regular advocacy with local legislators, both individually and collectively, saying elected officials "count on getting that feedback from us consistently" and that consistent constituent feedback can motivate statewide changes.
She also reported on the School and State Finance Project’s "state of the student" conference, where students and speakers described being under-resourced and the impact of testing-driven instruction on opportunities for experiential and creative learning. The liaison suggested the board consider attending the conference in future years to hear student perspectives and to use the finance project's data tools on district funding levels.
The meeting record notes Representative Ken Gucker attended portions of the conference, which the liaison described as an encouraging sign of legislative engagement. The board subsequently moved to adjourn to committee; a request for a second is recorded but no second or vote outcome appears in the transcript.
Next steps: Miss Kaneta recommended individual and group outreach to state legislators; the transcript does not record any formal board vote or directive to staff to pursue specific legislative language or a formal resolution.