Ames Schools Shrink Special Education Deficit (IA)

September 24, 2010

Trimming the Ames Community School District’s deficit spending for special education by more than a third this past year is the result of a team effort, district administrators said.

 The spending gap between the school district’s special education costs and the funding provided by the state of Iowa and other sources peaked in2007-08 at more than $2.6 million, said Chief Financial Officer Karen Shimp,and the district has been chipping away at it ever since.

 With attention to staffing and service levels, help from improved Medicaid reimbursement, plus a one-time infusion of $316,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the district shaved more than $657,000 from the2008-09 deficit to bring 2009-10’s preliminary deficit down to $1.22 million.

 Cutting special education costs is a delicate process, Shimp said.

 “The students come first,” she said, “and their needs must be balanced with the district’s responsibility to local taxpayers, who pick up the tab for whatever isn’t paid for by other sources.”

 Ames schools are unique among Iowa school districts because they provide a wide array of special education services and pro fessional expertise, Director of Student Programs Darcy Cosens said. The district draws special education students from other districts, such as those living at the Beloit Residential Treatment Center, for example, which increases total spending.

  In general, the local Area Education Association determines a special education student’s staffing needs. Shimp said the district where the student’s parents live pays basic costs. On top of that, she said, districts are allowed to bill for some services, such as educational assistants, assistive technology and special medical needs. 

 Medicaid reimburses school districts for certain medical costs with the parents’ consent, but since the reimbursement process is labor-intensive, it historically hasn’t been used to its fullest extent, Shimp said.

 “Recently an emphasis on information and training, for everyone from educational assistants to the bus company, has resulted in a huge jump in reimbursement levels,” she said. 

 The state funding formula for special education was never intended to cover all the costs, however, Shimp said. That’s why districts are allowed to levy property taxes in conjunction with the district’s general cash reserve levy, to make up the shortfall.

 Additional factors, such as replenishing the district’s cash reserves,affect the total tax levy, which is set to rise by more than $1 per $1,000 intaxable valuation next year.

 Cosens, who has been in her job since July 1, said the current lowerdeficit helps her “buy some time to look at a whole year of special educationprogramming in Ames.”

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 “It’s a high priority for me,” she said. “It’s about having the rightpeople in the right places. Students come first, however. Their physical,social, emotional and academic needs are the district’s first priority.”