Pupil services director seeks funding increase for special‑education staff and related services

Heather Chadwell Dennis presented the pupil services and personnel budget to the Beacon City School District board on March 23, detailing staffing recommendations and program needs across preschool, elementary and secondary programs.

Chadwell Dennis noted the district is serving 93 preschoolers with IEPs (ages 3–5), and recommended 28 special‑education teachers and 18 related‑service providers at the elementary level, plus an additional special‑education teacher at Beacon High School (budget‑neutral this year). At the secondary level, the recommendation included 30 special education teachers and 10 related service providers. The proposal also includes an additional halftime speech‑language pathologist and a halftime mental‑health provider.

She outlined the footprint of out‑of‑district placements (37 students this year, down from 40) and described contracted services for medically fragile students, homebound tutoring, and behavioral supports. Chadwell Dennis said the recommendation would increase the pupil services budget by $158,580.72 to a total of $6,097,628.95.

The board asked for clarifications about contract arrangements and how some staff perform dual roles (for example, staff who work as employees but also provide contracted services to preschool programs under memoranda of agreement). Chadwell Dennis said some contracted supports are structured so the district uses staff time outside contracted hours to provide preschool services, with compensation reflecting the additional work.

Next steps: administrators will finalize the detailed budget and answer follow‑up questions about contracted service models and out‑of‑district transportation costs before the April budget adoption.