Hazleton, PA: 1,704 more SPED students in 2023-24; 1,869 more in 2024-25;

May 21, 2026, Standard Speaker: Jump in special ed adds to Hazleton Area school budget

Across the United States, the number of students who qualify for special education services rose 3.8% in 2024, The Advocacy Institute found when analyzing federal data.

“Experts point to several influencing factors, including more awareness and earlier identification of conditions like autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the use of universal screeners for certain learning disabilities, and heightened attention to children’s mental well-being,” the National Association of Pupil Services Administrators said about the institute’s findings.

The percentage of Hazleton Area students in special education is approximately 17, still below the state average of 20.7.

Of those students, the percent is 36.7% with learning disabilities, 15.1% with autism, 13.6% with speech impairment, 7.7% with emotional disturbances and 6% with intellectual disability. The balance are for conditions such as traumatic brain injury, hearing and visual impairments, orthopedic and multiple impairments, Pennsylvania Data Center said.

Uplinger said Hazleton Area has been adding five or six classrooms for autistic or emotional support per year.

Last year, special education enrollment went up 1,869 after gaining 1,704 students the year before that.

In 2021-22, the program actually lost 33 students.

This year’s influx requires the district to hire at least 40 teachers, a difficult assignment given that 45 states reported shortages of special education teachers last year, the highest for any speciality, a study by the Learning Policy Institute found on July 15. . . .

Patte said approximately 10% of the students in special education attend schools outside the district with an average tuition of $150,000, which Hazleton Area pays.

Tuition for district students who attend other schools for regular and special education will $925,000 to $12.56 million next year.

Hazleton Area has tried to reduce those costs by enhancing its cyber academy so students will enroll there rather than cyber charter schools.

An elementary school being designed behind Hazleton Area High School will include rooms for approximately 80 students who now travel outside the district for special education.

For 2026-27, special education costs will rise $7.9 million, but $3.9 million for regular education. . . .