MONROE, CT — 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.
She said Monroe’s schools should receive the first installment of its financial aid by the end of February and the next installment around April or May.
“Obviously that amount of money will offset our bottom line right now,” she said.
Chairman David Ferris asked for a rough estimate of how much money the 10 percent loss in Excess Cost money will equate to. Kobza said about $150,000.
“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.
“They’re really trying to decrease the threshold, which would be huge for us,” Parsell said, “because you have to hit $85,000 to even qualify for excess costs. If we could lower that threshold that would be something that would really make a big difference.”
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?”
“I feel the same way,” Ferris agreed, “and that’s why I told Joe I was bowing out of all future ones too. It’s wasting my time. If there’s no fear of not getting reelected …”
“That’s all they care about,” Vaglivelo said.
Ferris later commented under this article to clarify he was not referring to State Rep. Tony Scott, R-Monroe, in his criticism.
In response to a question from Vaglivelo, Parsell said legal expenses are trending similarly to last year. “We only had about three settlements this year,” she said, “we actually had a little more last year.
All respectful comments with the commenter’s first and last name are welcome.
The Monroe Sun,
I want to make clear that I was NOT referring to Tony Scott in my comments about legislators. Tony has fought hard against unfunded mandates that harm our education system. Tony is a great advocate for Monroe.
I have attended numerous events with legislators who not all, but most, are intent on passing their agendas regardless of the overwhelming voices in the room explaining the need to do the opposite. It is very clear that the majority in Hartford will continue to pass unfunded mandates and other laws that harm education and business in this State as long as their re-elections are secure. It is up to the voters in other CT cities and towns to change this.
Thank you,
Dave Ferris