Council Bluffs, IA: $2.3M SPED shortfall; funding "has not kept pace" with growing costs

Sept 30, 2018, Council Bluffs (IA) Daily Nonpareil: CBCSD seeks spending authority for special education deficit https://www.nonpareilonline.com/news/education/cbcsd-seeks-spending-authorityfor-special-education-deficit/article_7612756d-4dcd-56a4-a933-6710dfd619a9.html The Council Bluffs Community School District Board of Education voted Tuesday to ask the state for spending authority to cover a $2.3 million funding shortfall for special education for the 2017-18 school year. The shortfall partly resulted from the need to hire more than 40 para-educators to satisfy Individual Education Plan requirements, according to board materials. School districts receive extra funding for each student served in special education, according to Dean Wilson, chief financial officer. However, over time, the funding to meet the needs of students has not kept pace with the cost of providing the necessary services.