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Special-education costs rise by $2.4M; district cites tuition and placements as main driver
Summary
District presenters said special-education spending will increase by about $2.4 million for next year—roughly $2.2 million of that for tuition and placements and about $240,000 for salaries—while the district plans to add a psychologist/CPSC chair to handle growing caseloads.
At the West Islip Union Free School District budget workshop, administrators reported that special-education spending for the coming year is projected to increase by roughly $2,400,000 and identified tuition and out-of-district placements as the principal driver.
"Our special education budget is going up approximately 2,400,000.0. About 10% of that, so let's say 240,000 relates to salary and about 2,200,000.0 relates strictly to tuition and placements," said the district presenter (Mrs. Pilati, S2) in response to a question about year-over-year cost changes.
Mrs. Morrison (S3) said the district currently educates 752 students in special education (a slight decrease from 761 the prior year) and described operational pressures: growing speech-language needs in an incoming kindergarten cohort, an increasing CPSC caseload (183 classified CPSC students noted), and the requirement that chairpersons facilitate intake, eligibility and annual review meetings plus monthly county coordination.
To address workload and oversight, the district plans to add a psychologist/full-time CPSC chairperson next year. Mrs. Morrison said a speech teacher who previously split time between speech services and CPSC oversight will need to be full-time at the building-level to meet student service demands.
District staff emphasized that federal IDEA funding covers a smaller share of special-education costs than originally intended and that limited state aid exacerbates the local fiscal strain. The presenters said advocacy at state and federal levels remains part of their strategy but that local budget choices and reserves have been necessary to close gaps.
No formal vote took place on staffing or program changes at the workshop; administrators said staffing and placement decisions will be refined before formal adoption.
