A 2021 report from Connecticut Voices for Children found special education outplacement in Connecticut rose 53% between 2010 and 2019. In fact, more recent reports say that Connecticut schools send more children to out-of-district placements than any other state.
As CT Insider reports, “According to a federal report released last year, 6.3 percent of Connecticut students with disabilities are educated in separate schools, the highest in the nation. This figure includes students attending private special education programs, as well as those in specialized public schools.”
Stafford is no exception, and during a discussion about the current year’s budget at the November 18, 2024, Board of Education meeting, board member Aaron Hoffman raised the issue. He expressed concern that the district spends over $2 million yearly on out-of-district tuition. Stafford has gone from six to 24 students in out-of-district special education placements in recent years.
“This is a huge issue for me,” Hoffman said and told Dr. Laura Norbut, the interim superintendent of schools, that she would have to take the lead on putting together a task force to investigate the rise in outplacements.
Dr. Norbut said that the goal is to educate students in Stafford but reminded the board the district is legally obligated to provide students with free and appropriate education, including specialized education for students’ individual needs. “There are times when students have needs above and beyond what we can provide here in Stafford,” she said.
William Hoff, the interim business manager who attended the meeting via Zoom, said he was looking into the specific cause of the increasing costs. Are students the district budgeted for costing more, or are there more students?
When board member Chris Paradiso asked why there had been such a large increase in students requiring outplacement, Dr. Norbut said, “We are in a changing time.” Since the pandemic, Dr. Norbut said schools have seen a significant change in student needs and that Stafford has students with significant needs, including some who are non-verbal.
Hoffman pointed out that some placements are more than an hour away, which leads to increased transportation costs. Dr. Norbut said the startup costs to provide the variety of programming needed to bring more students back to the district would be significant. So, as with most things, it’s a budget decision. Is the district willing to invest in starting up a special education program to bring more students back to Stafford?
Dr. Norbut said the district should be “looking through a preventative lens” so that rather than focusing on reducing costs by bringing students back, we can keep them in the district and don’t have to send students elsewhere in the first place.
BOE Secretary Erica Bushior asked what the district is doing to be proactive. Dr. Norbut said that, ultimately, it’s a budget decision. Does the district want to build out a program? First, it will have to hire a new Director of Pupil Services after Kathie Gabrielson left the district.
It’s also worth noting that there is a shortage of special education teachers. Education Next reports, “In 2023–24, more than half of districts and 80 percent of states reported such a shortage.” Why? That question is not as easy to answer. There is a rapidly rising demand, and the supply cannot keep up. Whatever the exact and complicated factors driving this dynamic, it’s clear that starting a comprehensive special education program is easier said than done.
Later, during a wider discussion about enrollment, Paradiso circled back to the special education issue, saying, “There’s more work we have to do as a board.”
“We can’t decide whether or not we want to build a program without knowing what it costs,” he said, adding that given transportation costs, surrounding towns might pay to send their students to a Stafford program.
During that discussion, board member Jen Biedrzycki said she would like to do a market analysis of the wages for Stafford’s school staff. She pointed out that Stafford teachers make significantly less than other area districts.
According to Salary.com, “As of November 01, 2024, the average annual pay of Special Education Teacher in CT is $68,576.” This can vary greatly, but the website reports most special education teachers earn between $54,061 and $89,813. A current listing for a Special Education teacher in Stafford does not list a salary range.