Nebraska schools are keeping a close eye on a state budget proposal for a 5% increase in funding for special education, a growing expense that has forced them to divert money away from other priorities.
School districts welcome the increase after years of flat-lined funding, but say the proposal still fails to cover the increased costs of federally mandated services for disabled students, as well as those with mental and behavioral health problems.
Nebraska reimburses about 50 cents for every dollar that local districts spend on special education, a rate that has declined since the 1970s. Chase County superintendent Brad Schoeppey in Imperial says the increase isn’t where it needs to be, but “obviously, it’s better than nothing at all.”
Chase County Schools spend about $719,000 per year on special education, out of a $9 million budget. The money helps pay for contract services, including a teacher for a visually impaired student and speech therapists. The cost of those services has risen for the district of 588 students.
The Gordon-Rushville Public Schools have also struggled to cover the treatment costs for students with mental and behavioral health problems. Superintendent Merrell Nelsen says the district has to pay to drive students from Gordon to treatment centers in Scottsbluff – a 130-mile, one-way trip.
Nelsen says the district spent 11% of its $8.8 million budget on special-education services last year. The district has 720 students, and 15 percent qualify for special-needs services.
Nelson says that “at the end of the day, you have a responsibility to the kids. You have to do what’s right for them, and that is going to involve spending money.”
Special-education funding is a major part of the overall school-funding debate, but it’s particularly important for smaller schools.
The funding formula that distributes general aid to schools is based on land values and student enrollment, which favors larger, urban schools that have lower land values and larger student populations.
Smaller districts with valuable, taxable farm land and declining student numbers receive less – but special-education funding goes to all schools that have special-needs students.
Sen. Kate Sullivan, chairwoman of the Legislature’s Education Committee, hopes to advance a bill that gives districts more flexibility to grow their own budgets but says lawmakers will need to be cautious as they decide how much to spend in general state-aid to schools because the economy remains fragile.
Speaker of the Legislature Greg Adams, the previous Education Committee chairman, says schools have become more aggressive in seeking special education funding after cutbacks in other types of state aid and that the governor’s proposed increase “gives them a little relief.”