St Mary's Co, MD: $2.6M needed to add 40 SPED positions due to "growing demands"
LEONARDTOWN, Md. — St. Mary’s County Public Schools presented a $2.585 million proposal to add 40 special education positions in fiscal 2028 as the number of students requiring specialized services continues to increase despite declining overall enrollment.
School officials presented the proposal during an Oct. 27 joint meeting of the St. Mary’s County Board of Education and the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County, outlining growing demands on special education teachers, classrooms and support personnel.
Between the 2023 and 2027 school years, the number of students with individualized education programs, or IEPs, increased 18%, from 1,839 to 2,172 students. During the same period, overall district enrollment declined approximately 5%, from 17,480 to 16,581 students, while special education staffing increased just 4%, from 380 to 396 full-time-equivalent positions. . . .
The proposal follows an Oct. 7 Board of Education meeting in which district officials outlined growing special education needs, staffing challenges and funding shortfalls under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ahead of fiscal 2028 budget planning.
Under the federal IDEA, school systems must provide eligible students with a free appropriate public education through services identified in their IEPs. Maryland regulations also require districts to develop staffing plans that meet the educational needs of students with disabilities.
Ellis said about 80% of students with IEPs spend at least 80% of their school day in general education classrooms, receiving specialized instruction or additional support when needed. Other students require more intensive services in specialized regional programs. . . .
According to Ellis, 21 of the district’s 99 resource teachers exceed the target caseload of 18 students, including five teachers responsible for more than 20 students.
“For fiscal year 2028, we’re requesting three additional resource teachers,” Ellis said. “This investment would reduce the number of teachers exceeding the target caseload and eliminate any caseloads above 20 students.”
Staffing pressures are also affecting regional programs serving students with more intensive educational needs.
Of the district’s 44 regional program classrooms, 18 exceed the nine-student target, while eight classrooms lack the two full-time paraeducators identified in the staffing plan. . . .
To address those shortages, the district is requesting eight regional program teachers and 24 regional program paraeducators. The proposed positions would bring classrooms closer to established staffing levels and provide additional instructional support.
The full $2.585 million proposal includes three resource and inclusion teachers at $270,000, eight regional program teachers at $720,000, and 24 regional program paraeducators at $1.32 million.
The proposal also includes five individualized-support paraeducators at an estimated $275,000, which would help reduce the district’s reliance on contracted personnel currently providing individualized assistance to approximately 25 students.
Seven Positions Reallocated To Special Education
The proposal was partially addressed during the joint meeting when county commissioners unanimously approved a categorical budget amendment that, in part, reallocated seven previously frozen positions to special education. . . .
Smith said the changes would help address staffing needs in TIDES classrooms, which serve kindergarten through second-grade students requiring specialized academic and behavioral support. . . .
School officials are also looking toward the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, which calls for an approximately 13% increase in the special education per-pupil funding amount for fiscal 2028, from $10,900 to $12,368, under Maryland law.
However, the increase does not guarantee sufficient funding to meet the district’s growing staffing needs. Smith expressed concern that Maryland’s projected budget deficit could affect future state funding. . . .
Deputy Superintendent of Fiscal and Supporting Services Tammy McCourt also said statewide special education expenditures exceed the funding assumptions used under the Blueprint by approximately $1 billion.
The district will continue developing its fiscal 2028 budget as state funding projections become clearer, with 33 additional special education positions remaining in its projected staffing request.
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