Jan 30, 2024, Stamford (CT) Advocate: Stamford schools special education, English-learning populations are spiking. Now the budget is too.
Stamford's school budget is growing, in part because of increased enrollment in special education and English language learners.
And special education is a much bigger contributor to the district's rising costs, the data shows.
"Special education costs are accelerating," said Michael Fernandes, associate superintendent for student support, during a budget presentation to the Board of Education on Jan. 24.
The proposed special education budget for next school year is $62.7 million, an increase of roughly $3.5 million compared with the current budget.
A big driver of that increase is the amount the school system spends on tuition for students who need extra support at specialized out-of-district facilities. That number is expected to rise by $843,340 to a total of $18.6 million.
The average cost to Stamford Public Schools per out-of-district student is $104,270, Fernandes said, more than three times the average cost for an "in-district" special education student, which is $31,000, and five times the cost of a general education student, which is $20,500 on average.
The amount spent on out-of-district tuition per student varies drastically, with the lowest total being $43,867, and the highest reaching $464,090.
"The high is probably shocking to some of you," Fernandes said.
Fernandes said the district has managed to decrease the percentage of students placed in out-of-district programs from 12.7 in 2017 to 8.8 percent in 2021.
“We’ve done a lot of work to address providing opportunities for students to stay in Stamford,” he said.
However, the cost to send students to non-district programs is going up. The average tuition cost has risen more than $25,000 per student over the past two years, Fernandes said.
He said the district's early childhood educational center Apples has seen "booming" enrollment overall as well as in special education students. This year, the number of students in the program increased by about 50 percent, for a total enrollment of more than 300 students.
As a result, an additional two teachers are proposed for Apples next year.
Over the past eight years, the number of students with disabilities in Stamford has increased by more than 700 students, including an increase of 200 students this school year compared with the previous year.
“Enrollment is a real driver for special education costs,” Fernandes said.
Special education spending in Stamford has risen by 16.8 percent over the past five years.
The most recent surge in special education students likely stems from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fernandes said. The loss of learning and social isolation students felt during that time has resulted in an increase in the intensity and quantity of student support, he said.
Another driver is the increase in staff to address enrollment growth. The proposed budget includes the addition of two speech pathologists, three social workers, one school psychologist and three contingency positions to address an even larger increase in enrollment.
The district also has seen a spike in English language learners, which is used to describe students who cannot communicate fluently in English.
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