Special needs require higher costs

From the Pottstown Mercury

School district reality: Special needs require higher costs
Published: Monday, March 30, 2009
By Evan Brandt/ebrandt@pottsmerc.com

POTTSTOWN — In 10 years, the number of special education students in Pottstown schools increased by more than one third, the number of special education classroom assistants increased three-fold and the number of special education teachers jumped from 26 to 40.

Outlined in a report to the school board Thursday, that information covers the period between the 1996-97 school year and the 2006-07 school year.

Further, in just the last two years, the number of special education students has increased by 64, from 443 to 507 and the district has added nine more special education teachers, bringing the total to 49. And in that same period, seven more special education classrooms assistants have been added, bringing this year's total to 79.

According to a statewide report released just last month, the increases in Pottstown are part of a trend being seen throughout Pennsylvania.

Between 2002 and 2007, special education enrollment in Pennsylvania has jumped by 25,000 students, Batseon said of the report's findings.

Not surprisingly, during that time, the district's special education costs have also grown.

That's because, statewide, it costs 2.3 times as much to educate a special education student on average as it does to educate kids without special needs.

In addition to the additional staff, "hidden costs" come in the form of "extra paperwork and meetings," said Pamela Batseon, the district's director of special education and student services.

The "Costing Out Study" conducted for the Pennsylvania Department of Education and released this year notes that the base cost for educating a student in Pennsylvania is about $8,000 per year.

By contrast, in Pottstown the annual average cost for a special needs student's education is $20,933, the study shows.

Still, Bateson said, that number is less than most other districts in Montgomery County.

Which is not to say it's cheap.

Last year, the district spent $10.1 million on special

education, said Business Administrator Linda Adams. This year, the special education budget is $10.5 million

But numbers don't tell the whole story.

"The numbers are not as simple as they might appear on the surface," Batseon told the school board.

A mind-numbing number of factors affect special education, its costs, its requirements and the manner in which the services are delivered, and not just in Pottstown.

With the state regularly monitoring the district for compliance with the maze of regulations, Batseon identified for the board no less than 23 areas on which the district must maintain constant compliance.

They include things ranging from "assistive technology," to drop-out and graduation rates, to parent participation and ensuring special education students are taught in the "least restrictive environment."

"We are comparing for compliance monitoring right now that will take place at the end of the month and we need to be able to demonstrate things like ensuring there are 28 square feet per special education student in each building," Batseon said.

Understanding how those regulations work can save the district from expensive litigation. "In Pottstown, we do not see the level of litigation and due process cases other districts are hit with," Bateson said.

While there is no shortage of state and federal regulation of special education, state and federal funding is scarce.

According to the costing out study, 391 of Pennsylvania's 501 school districts have inadequate special education funding, Batseon said the report concludes. In most districts, the shortfall is about $1 million per year.

Adams said typically, state aid comprises about 30 percent of Pottstown's special education budget and federal funding another 1 percent.

School Board Vice President Robert Hartman said one reason state funding falls so short is a change the state made decades ago in how special education is funded.

Under the previous system, the state reimbursed districts based on how many special education students they actually have.

Then, the system was changed to make reimbursements based on a formula that assumes a similar ratio of special education to nonspecial education students in each district, Hartman said.

But that sort of assumption is expensively inaccurate, as studies show that districts with lower income families have a disproportionately higher number of special education students, meaning the districts with what are often the weakest tax bases are burdened with some of the highest costs.

Despite that evidence "the state never said 'whoops, we were wrong' and changed it back," said Hartman.

For example, one factor that the state's formula fails to take into account is the Catch-22 that the borough's schools actually attract families with special education students because of its expertise with handling special education because of its already high special education population.

"We do a good job with special needs and people do come to this district for that," Hartman said

One of the things at which Pottstown has become expert is handling even difficult cases in-house.

For example, sending a student with extreme needs who attends the "life skills" classes, to the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit would cost a total of $60,000 a year. Taking that same student "in-house" costs taxpayers $15,412.

Bateson said the 35 students Pottstown has taken back, although the action required more staff being hired, ultimately saves Pottstown taxpayers $1.5 million per year.

Similarly, the autism classes the district has established, where 15 students are educated, saves the taxpayers $700,425 a year over sending them to the Intermediate Unit, Bateson said.

Taken together, these efforts to bring students back to Pottstown to be educated have saved the average Pottstown property owner, with an assessment around $80,000, about $160 per year, Business Manager Linda Adams estimated.

Bateson pointed out that the staff in Pottstown is working toward moving students into regular education.

The best way to do that, experts say, is to catch any issues early in a child's educational career.

Perhaps that is why the vast majority of the district's special education students, and accompanying staff, are located in the elementary schools.

Of the district's 507 special education students, 230 are in the elementary schools, along with 23 teachers and 38 assistants.

Another 129 students are in the middle school and 148 in the high school.

Of course, another Catch-22 of special education is that the earlier you identify students as having special needs, the more of them you have.

Never the less, Batseon pointed out that in 2006/07 school year, 105 students were found eligible for specal education services.

This year, only 73 were identified.

"We're not just spending more of the district's money," said Bateson. "We're really trying to do what's best for the students and keep the district out of hot water."