To Preserve Special Education, Big Sacrifices Loom (MI)
June 10, 2011
Local money for special education is declining rapidly in some
counties in metro Detroit, leaving school district leaders with
difficult choices about how to pay for the state and federally mandated
programs.
As property values decline, tax revenue has dried up
from special millages that fund programs for students with autism,
visual and hearing impairments and other disabilities.
Districts
may have to dip further into general education budgets to cover the
costs. It is unclear which programs might be at risk, but general funds
pay for everything from salaries to textbooks to athletics.
Even
though special education programs are mandated, some parents said they
fear the declines will bring reduced services for their children.
“I’ve
never seen conditions like these. They’re going to get worse,” said
Marcie Lipsitt of Franklin, co-founder of the Michigan Alliance for
Special Education, a parent advocacy group.
Oakland County is
facing an immediate problem — $150 less per pupil from its millage —
and Macomb and Wayne counties are anticipating shortfalls in the next
year or two.
“We’ve been warning them for years,” said Robert
Moore, deputy superintendent for finance and operations for Oakland
Schools, Oakland County’s intermediate school district.
“But that doesn’t make it any easier.”
Millage increases, cutbacks to general education may loom as funding declines
Lisa Kotula worked closely with officials in Grosse Pointe P ublic
Schools to line up certain special education services for her daughter
next school year.
But she worries shrinking tax revenue
eventually could mean fewer services to address her daughter’s
disabilities, which include an auditory processing problem that can
make it harder for the second-grader to understand verbal instructions.
“It’s
the difference between my daughter learning or not,” said Kotula, who
was able to line up some speech therapy and access to new technology
for her daughter next school year.
Across metro Detroit,
countywide millages for special education are in a spiral as property
values decline, resulting in less money dedicated to teaching children
with disabilities.
Because special education programs generally
are mandated by law, districts may have to use general education funds
to cover the costs, possibly affecting mainstream programs.
Even so, parents such as Kotula worry as administrators try to come up with ways to balance budgets and make it all work.
Macomb
Intermediate School District officials say they might ask voters this
year to approve an increase to the special education millage. And
officials with the Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA)
expect they will be forced to bill districts in 2013 to cover special
education funding shortfalls.
Wayne County controls special
education money for programs that educate kids with severe
disabilities. If the cost of the programs is more than the funding, the
county can bill a district for the difference.
“Each district is
going to have to struggle with how to pay its share of the bill. And it
will be significant in some districts,” said Kevin Magin, associate
superintendent for the Wayne intermediate school district.
<h3&g t;A $150-per-pupil cut
In Oakland County, the shortfall is hitting districts for the
2011-12 school year. Districts will be getting $150 per student less in
special education funding from Oakland Schools, the county’s
intermediate school district.
“When you have less revenue, the
obvious answer is that you cut or reduce costs,” said Ken Siver, deputy
superintendent for Southfield Public Schools.
But it’s not that
easy. A reduction in special education funding doesn’t mean districts
automatically cut the programs. Those programs, for the most part, are
required by law, so districts may have to dip further into their
general funds.
“That means there’s less money for general education,” Siver said.
That
makes things more difficult for districts, which already are dealing
with large cuts in state funding, declining enrollment and increased
costs.
In Southfield, for instance, the district is laying off
dozens of employees, consolidating positions and cutting salaries to
deal with an expected $13-million shortfall for the 2011-12 school year.
Stimulus will be missed
Parents
of students with special needs say special education programs already
are affected now that the federal stimulus dollars districts received
two years ago are running out.
“We’re already hearing a lot of
parents, even this year, who say they’re facing a lot more challenges
trying to obtain support for their children,” said parent advocate
Carolyn Gammicchia, whose son has autism, attends Utica Community
Schools and takes some community college classes.
She said she
would support a millage increase for special education in Macomb
County, but wants assurances the Macomb ISD is working to reduc e
administrative costs.
Don Bollinger, an associate superintendent
in the Macomb ISD, said the district has reduced positions and received
concessions from employees, including teachers, administrators and bus
drivers.
He said parents have encouraged the ISD to seek the millage increase, something he said will have to happen this summer or fall.
Wayne
RESA already has taken steps to show local districts that it is trying
to control costs. Over the last two years, the district has cut $7
million from its special education budget, trimming support services,
materials and supplies. Special education staff reductions were handled
through attrition, and Magin said any reductions remain within legal
limitations. For instance, the ISD is increasing its computer
replacement cycle from four years to six years and is consolidating
teacher aide positions.
“Maybe if a class size can be 10 and they are averaging 8, you move up to the legal limit,” Magin said.
The
special education fund in Oakland County peaked in the 2007-08 school
year with $164 million. That dropped to $139 million for the current
school year and will drop to $128.6 million in 2011-12 — a more than
20% decline from its peak.
The total cost for special education
is a lot more — $339 million in the 2009-10 school year in Oakland
County — and districts receive state and federal funding. But
districts have had to supplement the cost with local dollars.
Revenue
will continue to fall until the 2012-13 school year, then flatten out,
said Robert Moore, deputy superintendent for finance and operations at
Oakland Schools.
“We have no idea when the recovery will begin,” Moore said.
One district’s dilemma
The
loss of $150 p er student will amount to $1.1 million less funding for
Rochester Community Schools, said William Mull, assistant
superintendent for business.
But the district also will have to
address the loss of $2.1 million in federal stimulus money for special
education. Although some districts used the one-time money to cover
one-time costs such as staff development, supplies and materials,
Rochester opted to use the stimulus money to hire staff to handle
increases in the special education population.
“The downside is
that now we have these permanent staff that we’re required to keep in
order to service these children’s needs,” Mull said.