TYNGSBORO — The costs of special education, especially out-of-district tuition and transportation, are “unsustainable,” Superintendent of Schools Michael Flanagan told a recent tri-board meeting with state Rep. Colleen Garry and state Sen. Edward Kennedy.
The problem is not unique to Tyngsboro, and Flanagan was sharing not just his own perspective but also that of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents in the joint meeting of the Select Board, the Finance Committee, the School Committee, and the two state legislators representing Tyngsboro on Beacon Hill.
The out-of-district special education costs are more unpredictable than general public school costs, according to Flanagan.
“These unknown costs cripple our budget,” he said. “These are our kids, and we’re going to educate them, but we need to do something about uncontrollable costs. We need to begin a conversation.”
He cited three examples of the out-of-district costs for special education. Tuition for one such student is $115,700 and transportation is $56,700, for a total of more than $172,000. Tuition for another student is $169,000 and transportation is $97,666, for a total of nearly $267,000. Residential tuition for one student is $428,000 without transportation needed.
Garry appeared startled by the transportation costs and asked what kind of distances were involved. Flanagan said, “No more than 40 minutes.”
Select Board Chair Eric Eldridge noted that the $27 million School Department budget is 64% of the town budget and 20% of school costs are for special education.
It’s not just the cost of out-of-district special education that’s impacting the Tyngsboro budget, according to Eldridge. “Then we look at the Greater Lowell Tech, which we love, and their cost to us went up 16-plus percent,” he said.
That increase is partly attributable to capital improvements at the 50-year-old complex. With the new Tyngsboro Middle School, the town was able to exclude that debt from the operating budget. But in a school district like Greater Lowell Tech, which is made up of three communities besides Tyngsboro, that would be impossible.
Kennedy told the tri-board members his top legislative priority is Chapter 70, which provides funds for education. He wants to increase the funding for education, but cautioned, “There’s a lot of stuff we may no longer have the money for that will have to be addressed.”
Flanagan asked him and others to also focus on an amendment to Chapter 71, which governs special education.
Two bills in the Legislature, Senate bill 430 and House bill 691, are identical. They each call for a special commission to review and evaluate the state’s current special education financing structure.