Lammersville Joint Unified outlines rising special‑education needs, funding pressures

Director of Special Education Trevor Manley told the Lammersville Joint Unified Governing Board on July 16 that the district is seeing a steady rise in students identified with disabilities even as total enrollment falls statewide. "Last year we had 600 students with disabilities or students receiving special education services," Manley said, noting the district’s rate is about 7.45% of enrollment compared with a higher statewide average. He described the distinction between disability and educational need and outlined the district’s continuum of supports, from speech and language services to extensive support‑needs (ESN) classrooms and a life‑skills program at the high school.

Manley said the district has expanded special‑education capacity in recent years: since July 1, 2022, the district added seven SDC classrooms to reach 14 total SDC classes, serving roughly 70–84 students in those rooms. He said staffing and program changes — more behaviorists, psychologists and revised curricula — aim to move students toward general education when appropriate. "We exited 57 special education students," Manley said, describing exits as students who no longer meet criteria for special‑education placement after interventions. He also flagged compliance work, including legally reviewed IEPs and assessment checklists the district adopted to reduce liabilities and improve consistency.

Why it matters: Manley said funding is the major pressure point. He described a change in the SELPA funding formula from an ADA‑bracket model to a utilization model that reduced the district’s prior contribution to other districts and returned roughly $1.5 million to Lammersville. For 2025–26, Manley presented projected funding flows: about $7.25 million of AB602 (funds based on ADA) goes to the SELPA, the district expects roughly $2.4 million back for county programs, federal special‑education funding is about $895,000 and the general fund will need to cover an estimated $7.7 million shortfall for services and staffing. Superintendent Dr. Nelisk said litigation over federal funding puts the worst‑case scenario on the general fund, but offered no immediate timeline for resolution.