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Information presented to the Acton Public and Acton-Boxborough Regional
School Committees in the fall of 2002 regarding unexpected costs for special
education
services spurred members of the School Committees and the Acton Finance
Committee
into action. The Special Education Financial Task Force was formed in October
2002 to
explore reasons for the dramatic rise in Acton’s (APS) and Acton-Boxborough
Regional
School District’s (A-B) SPED costs, particularly regarding out of district (OOD)
placements. Two members of the local and regional school committees, and two
members of the Acton Finance Committee began a ten-month long inquiry to
acquire
data comparing our school systems’ expenditures and enrollment for special
education
with that of other towns in the Commonwealth, and also with state, regional
and national
data. Our goals were: a) to review financial information about the costs of
special
education for our districts, b) to understand better the factors that drive
these costs and
c) to uncover strategies used by other school districts, which APS and A-B
might utilize
to help mitigate short and long term expense increases. This report is the
initial product
of our inquiries.
In the first section of this report, we provide an overview of special
education in
Massachusetts, including a brief history of the laws that govern it. We also
discuss
eligibility and funding for special education services, as well as the various
types of
placements required. Subsequent sections of the report present an extensive
review of
data pertaining to student populations, costs, and staffing for special
education services.
Finally, we compare the results of qualitative data collection with selected
Massachusetts school districts, and share some thoughts for future work and
inquiry.
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