District reports rising special-education caseload and mental-health referrals as board plans supports

District staff told the Winslow Schools board that the October special-education count increased to 317 from 293 the prior year, with 22 active referrals pending evaluation.

At the board meeting S12 said referrals are high and noted the district added a school psychologist and a resource-group teacher last spring to help keep costs manageable and meet demand. Staff estimated contracting for a full psychological evaluation would cost roughly $1,200 to $2,400 per student, and that contracted professionals often bill in the range of $120–$250 per hour. District psychologists handle an average of 55–75 evaluations each, S12 said.

Administrators linked rising referrals and behavior incidents to broader trends in student mental health. Jason Bridal and Michelle described growing numbers of tier-2 and tier-3 behavioral incidents, increases in KDH (district referral) and ‘say something’ reports, and recommended expanding tiered supports, building more positive behavior interventions and additional family-engagement initiatives to improve attendance and classroom engagement.

Board members asked whether in‑house evaluation capacity saves money versus contracting out and requested rough financial comparisons to inform budgeting. Staff agreed to provide additional cost comparisons and to track early implementation metrics for the new supports.

Next steps noted in the meeting: monitor referrals and evaluation workload, report cost comparisons at budget time, and continue to develop targeted supports (PBIS, regulated-classroom approaches and outreach through tools such as Reach My Teach).