1. Franklin Public Schools School Budget Drivers Salary Health Insurance Transportation Special Education

2. Salaries and fringe benefits account for 83% of the 2010 budget 2010 Budget (in Millions) Other Expenses $2.3 Total Transport - Reg. 2010 & SPED Budget $2.4 Salaries $37.8 $50,297,820 Out of District Tuition $3.8 Health & Medicare Costs $4.0 Source: Franklin Public Schools Note: Other Expenses include Materials, PD and Contracted Services

3. Salary Budget 75% of Budget Salary Steps and Lanes Contractual Obligations Course reimbursement Longevity payments

4. Health Insurance 8% of Budget Re-design of Health Plans=Lower Costs

5. Transportation Cost of contract 2.4M overall Pay to Ride In- district Special Education Out of district Special Education Transportation

6. Special Education Programmatic and Budgetary Requirements Franklin Public Schools Sally Winslow & Beth Fitzmaurice January 25, 2010

7. General Assumptions Special Education services for eligible students are mandated by federal and state regulations The Federal Law is IDEIA 2004 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act) The State Law is 603 CMR 28:00 (formerly Chapter 766)

8. General Assumptions All school districts must follow federal requirements under the law State requirements must at a minimum be consistent with federal law, but can exceed federal requirements

9. General Assumptions Under the law, school districts are required to provide eligible students with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) within the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

10. General Assumptions The school district must be able to provide services to students with a range of needs The types of services and programming provided continually change to reflect the current needs of students Most students will access the curriculum through services/programs within the school district (LRE) Some children with more intensive, low incidence disabilities will require highly specialized outside placements in order to access the curriculum

11. General Assumptions Recommendations around eligibility and placements are made by the Special Education TEAM The TEAM develops an IEP (Individual Education Program) which includes services to be implemented in the LRE for that child Recommendations to place a child in an out of district placement are made only after all options within the school have been exhausted (LRE)

12. Types of Evaluations Psychological (Cognitive) Academic Achievement Educational History Classroom Teacher Report Home Assessment Speech & Language Occupational Therapy Physical Therapy Specialty Evaluations

13. Disability Categories Autism Developmental Delay (3-9 yr olds) Intellectual Impairment Sensory: Hearing, Vision, Deaf-Blind Neurological Emotional Communication Physical Specific Learning Health

14. Eligibility for Services: Four Criteria Child must have a disability in one of the federally defined disability categories Child is not making effective progress in school The lack of progress is due to the childs disability The child requires specially designed instruction or related services in order to access the general education curriculum

15. Continuum of Services In District Programs: Full Inclusion Program Partial Inclusion Program Substantially Separate Classroom Out-of-District Programs: Public Day School (9100 line)/Collaborative (9400 line) Private Day School (9300 line) Residential School (9300 line) Out of State Programs (9200 line)

16. Educational Collaboratives Educational Collaboratives are public entities comprised of member school districts who join together to develop cost effective programming for low incidence student populations FPS belongs to two Educational Collaboratives: BiCounty (BICO) Collaborative and ACCEPT Collaborative

17. Educational Collaboratives Substantially Separate Programs, located within public school buildings Annie Sullivan Middle School Franklin High School Public Day Programs, located in free standing facilities having no onsite access to inclusive services

18. Eligible Students Pre-School: 101 Elementary: 411 Middle: 276 High School: 303 Total: 1091

19. Continuum of Services State Rate Franklin Public Schools (1091) Full Inclusion 55.7 % 63.2% Program Partial Inclusion 22.5 % 18% Program Substantially 15.1 % 13.2% Separate Classroom Collaborative, Day 6.7 % 5.6% School or Residential School

20. Out of District Students MA Public Schools: 15 Collaborative Programs: 19 Private Day: 29 Residential: 14 Institutionalized Setting: 0 Total: 77

21. Transportation Services Under the Law, school districts are mandated to provide transportation to students with disabilities in the same manner as it would for all students If the child is placed away from the local school, transportation must be provided If due to a disability the child requires special transportation in order to participate in services, the school must provide it

22. Special Education Transportation Regular School Bus Franklin Vans (88) Parent Reimbursement (5) Private Vendors (61) Ambulance Service (0)

23. Out of District Tuitions MA Public Schools and Collaboratives set their own tuitions and are the most cost-effective Private School rates are governed by the MA Operational Services Division (OSD) Some private school programs have applied for rate increases through Program Reconstruction School districts are provided with some relief from special education costs (OOD & In-District expenses) through Circuit Breaker

24. Current OOD Tuitions (As of 1/15/10) MA Public Schools: $ 202,035 Collaboratives: $ 906,144 Day Programs: $ 1,590,253 Residential Programs: $ 1,922,277 Total: $ 4,620,710 Per Pupil Expenditure to Out of District Schools: FPS = $18,373 & State Average = $20,497

25. Other Cost Drivers Contractual Services Psychological Services Adapted Equipment/Assistive Technology Independent Educational Evaluations Legal cases/hearings Emergency Evaluation and Placement needs

26. Other Variables having Budgetary Impact Students with significant needs moving into the district Students with significant needs moving out of the district Students requiring additional services or 1:1 inclusion aide Changes in student placement to more or less restrictive settings Unilateral placements Influence from State Agencies (DCF, DMH, DDS)

27. What is Circuit Breaker? Expenses claimed from this year are reimbursed next year Transportation can not be claimed Claim = $ tuition 4(foundation) x 30% Foundation rate increases each year Reimbursement % has decreased each year FY 08 = 72%, FY 09 = 70%, FY10 = 35%

28. The moral of the story Special Education spending is a moving target based on many variables

29. Balancing ActDoing whats right for kids & being fiscally responsible The Budget Student Needs