Feb 4, 2025, Monroe (CT) Sun: Monroe public schools deal with sharp rise in special education costs
Soaring special education costs hit the school district hard last January, but Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kobza says it’s too early to determine the impact on this year’s budget.
“We will have to wait and see,” Kobza said Tuesday. “We did not budget as much in Excess Cost reimbursement, but we have spent more than anticipated, which also means that we will be reimbursed more than we originally budgeted.”
During a special education update at last Monday’s Board of Education meeting, Jennifer Parsell, director of student support services for the district, said the school system budgeted for $740,000 this year, but is actually getting $961,000 — $221,000 more than we anticipated.
“We’re spending more money and we have rising costs, since we have students with complex needs,” she told the board.
If the district appears to be ending this fiscal year with a budget deficit for special education, the superintendent said educators will try to cover it in their budget if possible.
“If not, then we would ask the Board of Finance to access the contingency,” Kobza said. “It’s a little too early to tell where we’ll be at the end of the year, so we don’t know yet.”
The superintendent said he believes administrators will have “a little more clarity” by the end of April and into May.
Parsell told the school board one special education student moved in the month of January. “We had four students dismissed or who moved out of district and 11 students made eligible, which brings us to a total of 659 students,” she said of current enrollment.
“Our outside agencies increased by $55,000 last month,” she said, adding public tuition increased by $36,000 and private tuition increased by $300,000.
“We know that’s a shocking number, but we have been talking about this for months,” Parsell said. “We had some students we placed and those encumbrances finally came in for their tuition and transportation, so that’s why that number is so large.”
Homebound instruction costs increased by $11,000 and the district’s systemwide transportation, which would coincide with tuition, increased by $112,000, according to Parsell.
“Our transportation preschool line increased by $9,200, which is pretty typical this time of year, because we added an extra bus,” she said of meeting the needs of increasing student enrollment.
“Professional independent services increased by $11,000, because there are psychiatric evaluations and other evaluations we can’t do in district,” Parsell said. “We also had some equipment repairs with assistive technology devices for certain students — that’s another $2,200 we spent. So it was an expensive month. We had a lot of expenses.”
Falling state aid
The state typically provides 70 percent reimbursement for the district’s special education costs through an Excess Cost grant, however, Parsell said that financial aid decreased to 68 percent last year and Monroe Public School will only get 60 percent this year. . . .
“I know there has been a very concerted effort to address Excess Costs in this legislative session,” Kobza said. “There’s talk about possibly offering help this fiscal year. I’ve been tracking the bills. There have been a number of legislators who put something in for Excess Costs.”
Jerry Stevens, a board member, recalled hearing news of Governor Ned Lamont’s proposal to increase state funding for special education by $54 million in Connecticut.
“I don’t know if it’s going through,” Stevens said. . . .
While Monroe will get 60 percent back from the state, Kobza said the district budgeted for 65 percent for next year.
“The state put us in this situation,” said Alan Vaglivelo, a board member. “They won’t change the burden of proof. I remember when we went to one of those legislative things and they said, ‘we know what you’re gonna ask and the answer’s no, because the advocates and the lawyers will make sure that we don’t get reelected.’ I stopped going. What’s the point to those legislative meetings?” . . .
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