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Special-education leaders warn Act 73 weights risk federal funding and call for regional service design
Summary
Leaders from the Vermont Council of Special Education Administrators told the House Education Committee that Act 73’s weighting model could force districts to use general foundation funds to cover special-education costs, risking federal maintenance-of-effort compliance; they urged district-level weighting, a glide path, and careful design of Cooperative Education Service Agencies (CESAs).
Mary Lundeen, executive director of the Vermont Council of Special Education Administrators (VCSEA), told the House Education Committee on Feb. 4 that VCSEA’s top priorities are protecting IDEA-funded services and ensuring fiscal integrity as Act 73 is implemented. She said the group is focusing on the Special Education Weighting Design and on development of Cooperative Education Service Agencies (CESAs).
"Our primary goal is to engage in a meaningful dialogue with you regarding these critical issues," Lundeen said, introducing the witnesses and VCSEA’s written priorities and fact sheet on maintenance of effort (MOE).
Heather Freeman, director of special education for the Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union, explained the federal MOE requirement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B and warned of the consequences if a local education agency cannot meet the test. "It's a fiscal requirement under the federal IDEA law," Freeman said, describing the two MOE tests — budgeting and actual spending — and noting that if an LEA cannot document allowable exceptions, "the LEA may have to repay that amount from nonfederal sources."
VCSEA President Chris Benway, director of special services for Slate Valley Unified School District, urged lawmakers to reconsider the Act 73 weighting design for special education. "The weighting formula does not provide sufficient dedicated support for special education," Benway said, arguing the change could force districts to rely on foundation formula dollars and "place special education and general education in direct competition for the same limited fiscal resources." He added that disability categories are "broad, inconsistent, and often ill suited as a basis for funding decisions."
Benway and other witnesses described modeling in some districts indicating large shortfalls under the current weights. "There's an estimated $6,000,000 shortfall that would have to be made up through the use of the foundation monies," Erin McGuire, past VCSEA president and special-education director for Essex Westford School District, said of her district’s modeling. McGuire emphasized she and colleagues have not completed a statewide analysis but warned that without a glide path the new model could force districts into untenable choices between cutting special-education services or spending foundation funds and risking MOE noncompliance.
On Cooperative Education Service Agencies, McGuire said CESAs could provide regionally scaled services but must be designed with flexibility so they do not "increase segregation of students" or supplant district responsibility for providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE). "These entities would be partners with school districts," she said, adding that CESAs should supplement district services and that the voices of parents and individuals with disabilities must be central to any design.
Witnesses also raised capacity concerns at the Agency of Education, saying frequent turnover and the current absence of a special-education director limit the agency’s ability to provide consistent technical assistance and accountability as new funding models and redistricting are implemented.
Committee members asked whether Vermont should lift a moratorium on new private therapeutic schools to address placement shortages. McGuire and other witnesses said the moratorium, combined with recent closures of programs such as Mosaic and Centerpoint, has left immediate placement gaps for some students and that CESAs would take time to establish. "We really feel like we need to repeal the moratorium because even if we lift schools up in order to have cooperative education service agencies... that's going to take time," McGuire said, while also calling for accountability standards for any program that receives public dollars.
No formal motions or votes occurred during the hearing. Committee members thanked the VCSEA delegation and signaled they may invite some or all witnesses back for deeper follow-up; the committee also noted an Agency of Education special-education report is scheduled for the next day.
The committee will consider the testimony alongside the forthcoming Agency of Education report and may request additional modeling or follow-up testimony to clarify the statewide fiscal impacts of Act 73’s special-education weighting.
