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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE 4" REPORT, April 28, 2007, TO 2007 ATM
<br />from one form of out -of- district school to another (usually more expensive) school. The FY2008
<br />projection takes into account students currently in an out -of- district placement that are assumed also to
<br />start the FY2008 year out -of- district, as well as an assumption about new out -of- district placements. The
<br />budget assumes that the number of out -of- district students in FY2008 will be less than the number
<br />recorded in March 2007, as the school administration expects that the new in -house programs described
<br />below will result in fewer students going out -of- district and some returning in district.
<br />Out -of- District
<br />Budget
<br />FY2007
<br />budget
<br />FY2007 est
<br />21 March
<br />FY2008
<br />budget
<br />% Increase
<br />FY07 -FY08
<br />Total # Students
<br />111
<br />123
<br />111
<br />+0%
<br />Total Cost
<br />$6,132,539
<br />$6,268,305
<br />$6,912,198
<br />+12.7%
<br />Circuit Breaker
<br />$1,800,000
<br />$1,652,647
<br />$1,954,739
<br />+8.6%
<br />Net Cost to Town
<br />$4,332,539
<br />1 $4,615,658
<br />1 $4,957,459
<br />+14.4%
<br />One year after the Town has incurred out -of- district costs, the State will reimburse Lexington for some of
<br />the associated expenses—in other words, the assumed circuit breaker revenue in the FY2008 budget
<br />represents reimbursement of expenses incurred in FY2007, for which the Town will submit a claim in
<br />July 2007. The State will reimburse Lexington for 72 -75% of the costs incurred above approximately
<br />$33,700 for each child placed out -of- district; transportation, however, is not currently eligible for
<br />reimbursement. The State allocates up to 75% if the claims do not exceed the State budget for such
<br />claims. Earlier this year, for example, the Town was told to assume 72% for FY2007, but when the DOE
<br />verified that extra funds were available, school districts were told to expect 75 %. In addition to the circuit
<br />breaker reimbursement, Lexington received $103,980 in extraordinary relief in FY2007, but is not
<br />budgeting any extraordinary relief in the FY 2008 budget.
<br />TRANSPORTATION
<br />Expenses for transportation of SPED students are projected to increase 25.4% from the FY2007 budgeted
<br />amount of $871,756 to $1,093,371 projected for FY2008. The budgeted increase is the result of an
<br />anticipated increase in the number of students (both in district and out of district) who will require
<br />transportation from 136 in the FY2007 budget to an anticipated 158 in FY2008, inflation in the cost of
<br />transportation, plus assumptions about the nature of the transportation required for each student.
<br />NEW PROGRAMS
<br />The school achninistration also initiated or expanded three new programs, scheduled to begin in
<br />September 2007, which are aimed at increasing the ability of the schools to educate students within the
<br />system and therefore mitigate the increase in out -of- district expenses. An Intensive Learning Program
<br />(ILP) to serve students with autism is planned for each of the middle school and high school levels, while
<br />a third program, a Multidisciplinary Support Team (MST) for students identified as having emotional
<br />disabilities, is planned at the high school level. Students with these disabilities account for the majority of
<br />the out -of- district expenses, and the school administration projects that these programs will prevent a
<br />number of out -of- district placements in the future as well as bring students currently placed out -of- district
<br />back into the system. These programs are projected to cost $537,000 and result in savings of
<br />$1.376 million, for a net savings of $839,000 in the first year of the programs.
<br />The FY2008 school budget assumes a total increase of 11.4 SPED teachers and 6.0 SPED support staff
<br />for a total of 17.4 more FTEs than in the FY2007 budget. Of this increase of 17.4, 12.8 are the result of
<br />the investment in these cost - saving programs. There are a total of 2.0 SPED FTE positions and 11.0
<br />instructional assistants on the at -risk list.
<br />COMMITTEE POSITION
<br />This Committee has not yet taken a formal position on this funding request by the Schools as the latest
<br />data on the Schools request was only received the day before this report was to be printed. While we have
<br />an official meeting scheduled before Town Meeting debates this request—so we can have a formal
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