Special Education Funds for County Schools Are in Jeopardy
Posted on: Tuesday, 1 November 2005, 15:02 CST
By T.S. Mills-Faraudo, STAFF WRITER
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO -- Almost a dozen school districts in San Mateo County could lose money for special education students under a new plan governing how the funds are doled out.
That's why the South San Francisco Unified School District is asking officials to delay implementation. Expecting to lose almost $1 million, the district is among 11 that would lose out.
Federal and state money for special education programs in the county is distributed by an umbrella agency of school districts called the Special Education Local Plan Area, or SELPA.
"There are winners and losers throughout the SELPA and we're the biggest loser," said South San Francisco Superintendent Barbara Olds.
Under the current plan, the amount of money each district gets is based on a combination of its average daily student attendance and its number of special education students, said Sue Larramendy, associate superintendent of students services for the County Office of Education.
The County Office of Education also keeps part of the cash to run special education programs for students from districts unable to serve them.
Under the new model, the Office of Education would give districts all of the money and bill school districts that still need its services. Also, the amount of money each district receives would be based solely on the average daily student attendance.
It's the school districts that would still depend on the county for services that would end up losing. Since the county would not be keeping a portion of the federal and state funds anymore, it would have to hike up its costs for special education services.
South San Francisco doesn't have enough students with severe disabilities to create its own class, so it would have to send these students to the county.
One of the biggest winners will likely be Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park because it doesn't send students to the county, Larrmendy said. Districts like Ravenswood, she said, may end up with more money for special education than they have had in prior years.
South San Francisco will likely get some help offsetting its $985,000 shortfall. The SELPA board agreed to take $2 million from an emergency pool of money to help ease the financial burden on the districts negatively affected by the new funding model.
Regardless, South San Francisco officials think the SELPA board should come up with a different plan that works for all districts.
The South San Francisco school board will vote tonight on a resolution asking SELPA to delay implementation of the new funding model.
The board will meet at 7 p.m. in the South San Francisco High School Library Information Center at 400 B St.
Staff writer T.S. Mills-Faraudo covers education. She can be reached at (650)348-4338 or tmills@sanmateocountytimes.com.
Source: Oakland Tribune
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