Board hears rising special-education costs, consultants and evaluation fees push budget requests higher
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Summary
Administrators told the board that independent educational evaluations and outside consultants have driven sizable increases in special-education 'other purchased services' lines; the district plans to add paraeducators, RBTs and an OT while relying partly on grants and realized savings.
Administrators told the Newington Board of Education on Feb. 9 that several factors are raising next year's special-education budget request, and they outlined steps the district has taken to contain costs.
Director of Special Education Marilyn Julioso said the Transition Academy currently enrolls 11 young adults and is expected to add about five more next year; that program and growing special-needs enrollments have contributed to increased staffing and supply requests. Julioso said some supplies (including food used in life-skills classes) are budgeted locally because grant funds cannot be used to purchase food. (presentation)
Board members and administrators emphasized a steep rise in independent educational-evaluation (IEE) costs and consultant fees. "Our typical evaluation, $2,000, $3,000 — we had one evaluation that was $9,000," Julioso said while explaining the jump in the 599 'other purchased services' line. She said families can request an IEE and that costs have 'skyrocketed,' which has increased outside-contract spending. (discussion)
Administrators also explained staffing changes: an increase in paraeducator positions and five registered behavioral technicians (RBTs) in some schools, additional speech-language-pathology and occupational-therapy requests, and reclassification of some positions under the building-based budget. Board members asked for a school-by-school staff allocation breakdown to understand whether staffing increases line up with enrollment changes.
On district support programs, presenters highlighted ESS clinicians and school psychologists. Administrators said ESS services prevent higher-cost outplacements and estimated ESS-related savings at around $1,300,000 in avoided placement costs. The board discussed grant offsets including IDEA, ESSER and a seed grant; presenters said some lines are covered now by one-time realized savings or grants that may not continue, creating uncertainty in next year's operating budget.
No formal budget votes were held. Board members requested follow-up documents: school-level staffing breakdowns, the specific grant offsets applied to lines (including which salary amounts the grants covered), and further detail on the frequency and average cost of IEEs.