Special Education Costs Drive Schools Deficit

By Ann DeMatteo

By Ann DeMatteo Assistant Metro Editor

NORTH HAVEN — If residents don’t appropriate $250,000 to cover a pending deficit in the special education budget, there will be immediate layoffs and program eliminations in the schools, Superintendent Sara-Jane R. Querfeld says.

Querfeld stated her case before the Board of Selectmen, which held a special meeting Thursday. The vote was unanimous to hold a special town meeting at 6:30 p.m. April 8, prior to the budget public hearing at North Haven High School, for residents to learn and speak about the problem and then vote on the matter.

Querfeld said the money, which would be tapped from the unappropriated fund balance, will cover educational costs for nine special education students who have been placed by the state Department of Children and Families, the court system or a hospital. The students have mostly psychological problems that can’t be handled in local schools. Their diagnoses can include chemical imbalances, autism and alcohol or drug abuse.

“Since the beginning of the fiscal year, DCF outplaced seven students, at an average of $50,000 a year, and group homes have added two more,” Querfeld said. “We didn’t know about them. They weren’t from North Haven originally.”

The Board of Education budgeted $1.93 million to send 44 students out of district this year, but has encumbered $3.35 million because it’s responsible for 53 students. With the state expected to reimburse the board $1.2 million, there is a $250,000 gap, according to Querfeld.

The highest tuition the school district is responsible for is $181,447. The cheapest is $43,000, and most range from $70,000 to $100,000 annually.

Parents pay the medical portion of a child’s care at these schools, some of which are out of state. But the school system where the child lives must pay for the educational services, according to state law, Querfeld said.

“It’s a problem we want the people to understand. We haven’t overspent our budget. We’ve had unexpected children show up.

“The district has tightened its belt in all other areas to try to balance for the unexpected out-placements,” Querfeld said, adding that it’s a situation the board hasn’t been in before.

The school board also went into the fiscal year not having enough money to cover a health insurance account, but the deficit has been covered through spending and hiring freezes.

The school board can’t overspend its budget and has no- where else to turn for the funds but the town, she said.

“If we don’t get the $250,000 additional appropriation, we’re in deep trouble because by statute, we have to end in the black, and the only alternative we will have is to lay people off. Spring sports and extracurriculars would be in jeopardy,” Querfeld said.

A resident who attended the selectmen’s meeting, Bob Johnson, opposes the appropriation.

“I don’t like going into the town’s savings account for a problem the state has caused,” he said.

“I second the idea of the state taking over special education costs because of the unfair burden (to towns). … Our special ed costs are nearing 23 percent of our budget,” said Querfeld.

Selectmen and state Rep. Steve Fontana, D-North Haven, said the state has tried to share the burden of special education costs.

Special education students fall under a federally unfunded mandate, he said.

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