School officials warn of rising special-education enrollments but say fiscal impact is hard to quantify

Dr. Armstrong told supervisors the division has bucked statewide enrollment declines with a steady two-year increase and has seen a notable rise in students qualifying for special education services. "Of the 47 new students we had, over they were 25 of them, students who were receiving some type of special education service," he said.

The division's director of exceptional education, Sarah Franklin Murray, described the identification process as "pretty extensive," explaining the child-study pathway, educational evaluations and involvement of school psychologists in developing individualized plans. "Some folks do come to us with medical diagnosis, but we still go through the educational side of that to determine how they're impacted in school," Murray said.

Staff and supervisors discussed how special-education costs differ widely by need. One staff member cited FY24 per-pupil figures combining federal, state and local funding: an elementary special-education student cost about $22,900 compared with about $14,000 for a general-education student. Dr. Armstrong warned that some individual cases can be much more expensive and that litigation and related legal fees have increased the division's expenditures in this area.

Officials said they would calculate and share more precise local incremental costs once spring kindergarten enrollment numbers finalize (April 9-10) and when staff complete ongoing housing-yield enrollment studies. Supervisors asked for early communication to avoid surprise budget requests.