(UK) Dorset: Plans to add 80 special school places; will save $53K/student

July 26, 2021, Dorset Echo: Plans to expand Beaucroft School to meet demands https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/19468144.plans-expand-beaucroft-school-meet-demands/ S. coast of England

EIGHTY children with special needs could be educated in Dorset if plans to expand a school are approved. Plans to expand Beaucroft School in Wimborne will be discussed by Dorset Council's cabinet at a meeting on July 27. If the plans are approved, up to 80 places for Dorset children and young people with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) will be created, with a particular focus on those in post-16 education which will help reduce the council's need for independent placements. Independent provision costs roughly £60,000 a year per child, compared to around £22,000 at one of Dorset's own special schools. It is proposed that in some cases education could be better provided with an increase in local provision that allows young people to be better educated closer to home and in their local communities….