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Rising SPED costs pull at district's purse strings

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW Funding for special education in schools throughout the state has been an issue for a while, and funding special education programs in the East Longmeadow Public Schools has recently become a major issue. With the number of special education students with individualized education plans in the district now totaling 700, the school needs an additional $335,000 to fund their education for the rest of the school year.

"SPED costs are increasing out of our control," School Committee Vice-Chair Thomas McGowan said at last Monday's committee meeting.

"SPED is a very costly item, but we don't blame special education for that," Superintendent Edward Costa said. "I try to take the same look at it as any parent of a special education child would."

Costa said the issue is a personal one for him, as his little brother has Down Syndrome. "I talk the talk and walk the walk," he said. "I have a soft spot in my heart for this."

He added that the care our nation's school systems provide for children with special needs is something we should take pride in because not all the nations in the world developed or not care for all their students the way schools do in the U.S.

Costa presented the School Committee with a list of special education students who are either brand new to the district this year or who had a new placement based on the seriousness of their condition. He explained that the more serious a condition, the more costly it is to fund that student's education.

"The money being spent [on special education] is not something we can predict," he stated.

Costa said there are several options when it comes to covering the special education deficit. He explained the district may freeze the budget for the rest of the fiscal year, it may ask the town for assistance from the Stabilization Fund, it may call a Special Town Meeting to appropriate money or the funding could come from a mixture of the three aforementioned sources.

The School Committee met with the town's Appropriations Committee on March 11 to open a discussion on how the district will pay for the additional special education costs.

"This is a very serious thing," Raymond Miller, chair of the Appropriations Committee, said. "The major concern is that the only way for the school to absorb the cost is for it to have an impact on regular education. The Appropriations Committee needs to see how it impacts what we do next year."

Miller explained that in situations like this, the Appropriations Committee asks the department requesting additional funds to try to absorb as much of the cost as possible and cut back in other places.

"The schools have been very good about that," he said, "but they're not going to be able to do this by themselves."

Miller speculated that some funding may come from the town's free cash account and hopes that the Appropriations Committee and the School Committee have the issue resolved within a month.

"We need to see how the whole FY09 budget works out," he stated.

"The additional $335,000 makes things very tough," Costa said, "but it's almost an impossible task to predict how the special education population will change. We look at patterns but it's not a perfect science.

"We're talking with the Appropriations Committee," he continued. "We're not done yet. We've agreed not to do anything until there is more discussion."

Once discussion has ended, action will be taken. "We are committed to reconciling this budget shortfall," Costa stated. "I have great faith in our town ... We will find ways to make this work."

While there may be a financial hardship this year on the school district, State Rep. Angelo Puppolo announced last Thursday that East Longmeadow will be receiving $8,324,121 in School Assistance, Chapter 70 money, an increase of approximately $1.8 million over last year.