Wakefield school leaders flag rising special-education costs, nursing vacancies and $6M tuition projection
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Summary
Interim special-education director told the School Committee about transition work, a DESE monitoring finding and major budget pressures — including about 45 out-of-district students and an estimated $6,000,000 in tuition costs — and said staff are pursuing hiring and program strategies to reduce out-placement.
Interim Director of Special Education Shannon Blacker told the Wakefield School Committee on Feb. 24 that special-education transitions, out-of-district placements and staffing shortages are driving sharp cost pressures in the district.
Blacker outlined a series of transition efforts (fourth-to-fifth, eighth-to-ninth and other year-to-year transitions) intended to align services across buildings and to make sure students on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) receive consistent supports. She described collaborative planning with curriculum coordinators and principals and said the district is integrating special-education staff into curriculum walks and data-team meetings to spot needs early.
On monitoring and compliance, Blacker said the district completed a DESE Integrated Monitoring Review this year and received one finding related to physical-restraint policy and procedures. The district has submitted a corrective-action plan; updated procedures prepared with the district attorney will go first to the policy subcommittee and then to the full committee, with a target for committee review by April.
Blacker gave specific staffing and cost details: the approved nursing complement is 10 FTEs but the district is operating with nine this year because of a maternity leave and one 0.4 (two-day) position that has been difficult to fill. She said the district is seeking to hire an interested substitute for that 0.4 role and will consider whether combining that shared position into a full FTE is feasible for next year.
On placements and dollars, Blacker reported 45 students currently placed out of district (18% of them moved to Wakefield already in non-district placements), with a projection of roughly 41 out-of-district students next year. She said anticipated tuition costs are "about $6,000,000," and that transportation and contracted therapeutic services are also increasing. Blacker stressed that some placements require monitors, nurses or solo vans, and those factors multiply per‑student transportation costs, which she said can range from about $61 to as much as $450 per student per day depending on service needs.
The district is pursuing strategies to reduce out-of-district tuition by expanding in-district programming for young students (ages 3–5) and investing in small-group instruction and therapeutic services to keep more students in Wakefield schools.
The presentation closed with an update on CPAC (the Special Education Parent Advisory Council) and on parent-facing "Basics Rights" workshops the district will make available via state weekly sessions and district links because prior in-person attendance has been low.
The committee asked follow-up questions about staffing and the feasibility of converting shared positions to full-time roles; Blacker said combining positions is under consideration for next year but that prior commitments guide the current year's staffing plan.