WESTFIELD — During Finance Director Shannon Barry’s monthly report to the School Committee on Dec. 2, Barry said there is an unexpected deficit of over $1.5 million in special education and transportation in this year’s budget, largely due to several out-of-district placements that came in after the budget was approved in April.
“I really feel that the reimbursement system and the method of determining the costs; that system is broken,” said Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski.
Barry said the deficit includes $1 million for in-state out-of-district special education tuitions and another $200,000 for out-of-state out-of-district special education tuitions. She said this was due to additional students going to out-of-district placements after the budget was approved. “These amounts are not definite numbers as they change throughout the year as students go into placements or return to the district,” she said.
The other $500,000 is a transportation deficit and is an estimate at this point on the students the district is transporting. “The cause of this deficit is out-of-district transportation in general and the number of students we are transporting at a significant cost,” which she said also includes students who are not housed, or in the Dept. of Children and Families system.
Barry said the options to cover the deficit include funds from unfilled personnel positions and balances in expense accounts that are not needed. Other potential options are School Choice, which would not be specifically used for tuitions, but would cover other allowable expenses to free up funding in the general fund to cover the deficit. There is also a potential to tap into FY25 circuit breaker funds to cover tuitions, she said.
Czaporowski said most of the cost increases are related to special education, especially out-of-district placements. Two years ago, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education approved a tuition increase of 14% for DESE-approved out-of-district special education schools, and this year, another 3% increase.
“One of the student’s placement will cost the district $315,000, which is a big chunk of the $500,000. I feel that is astronomical in terms of what it costs. How are districts supposed to cover those costs,” Czaporowski said.
“If you’re going to impose a 14% increase, Chapter 70 [education aid] should go up 14%,” he added.
Westfield also receives circuit breaker funds from the state, which were originally intended to reimburse 100% of out-of-district tuitions, and now cover only 60 to 70 percent of costs, he said.
“I consistently advocate with local legislators — state Sen. John Velis [D-Westfield] and Rep. Kelly Pease [R-Westfield] — so that districts get what they were originally supposed to get, 100 percent reimbursement. We only get 60-70% — especially since DESE approved the cost increases,” Czaporowski said.
Barry said the district has never been in a deficit like this in out-of-state tuition. She said she will be using this year’s circuit breaker reimbursement for this year’s budget, which she usually reserves for the following year’s costs. “I never had to touch it before,” she said.
During the discussion, Bo Sullivan asked how a student picks the school they go to through out-of-district placement.
Czaporowski said the student will go to the school that’s available and meets their needs, after an Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting has demonstrated that the student is not making adequate progress and might need a more intensive therapeutic environment.
“With some schools it’s that or nothing else. They have to have room for our kids today. There is such a huge increase in out-of-district placements across the country and in Massachusetts, we have students on waiting lists,” he said.
Special Education Administrator Debra Ecker said the majority of students are going to more therapeutic schools based on mental health and behavioral needs beyond what a public school can provide.
“If there are multiple schools they can go to, who chooses the school,” Sullivan asked.
Ecker said the district does if there are four or five schools available. Once referred, the school reviews the application and accepts the student. She said there is a huge waiting list.
“Sometimes we don’t hear back for 2 to 3 months. We make the referral; the parents decide on the school,” she said.
“Sometimes we don’t agree with the school that parents ask for,” Czaporowski said, adding that recently the district was in mediation with DESE on one placement, but he said DESE rarely sides with the district.
“They mandate us by law to do this, and they don’t fund this. Are there creative ideas on how to provide services to keep more kids in-district,” asked Heather Sullivan.
Czaporowski said the autism program at Paper Mill Elementary is larger than it has ever been, and another teacher was just added. “I do have some thoughts on how to add new programs, but they are one-and-a-half years out and finding the staff is difficult,” he said, adding that private schools pay better.
Ecker said the district is required to cover occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech among others. “This summer we were able to cover with a couple of our own folks. We must provide the services. If we can’t find our own folks, we are required to contract out. We had some luck with speech over the summer, but psychologists are more difficult to find,” she said.
“Our budgets aren’t going up that much. What you’re seeing is a lot of districts having to make other cuts in order to fund special education,” Czaporowski said. “It affects every district across the state.”
