By NEIL ZOLOT
NORTH READING — The number of out-of-district placements for Special Education students has risen from 30 in 2015 to 45 in 2024, Director of Student Services Cynthia Conant told the School Committee at their Dec. 9 meeting.
“We’re trending upwards,” she said, referring to rises of 36 in 2017 and 37 in 2023, before reaching the highest level yet this year.
Despite her belief that the numbers for the next fiscal and school year of 2025-26 will remain stable or relatively stable, she recommended not decreasing funding. “The numbers may stay the same, but the cost may increase,” she said in reference to annual cost increases of about 3%. There was a 14% state-mandated increase in the cost of out-of-district day placements in 2022.
Day placements comprise the vast majority of the out-of-district placements, with many of those with collaboratives such as the North Shore Educational Consortium, of which North Reading is a member.
There are also day placements in private facilities and various residential placements, all depending on the needs of individual students. Costs run to about $55,000 per year for members of the North Shore Educational Consortium and $75,000 for non-members. Private facility day placements run from $75,000-110,000 and residential placements $170,000-550,000. Some students in and out of the district receive services until age 22, to which they are entitled.
Most out-of-district placements are the result of the local Special Education staff determining the need for it based on a student’s Individual Education Plan or a student moving into the town with an existing IEP from a previous district calling for an out-of-district placement. “The district is required to pay the cost related to tuition and transportation to access education outside the district,” Conant explained. “We look to see if we can provide the services the SPED team has determined, but if we can’t, we look for an out-of-district placement.”
She added determining the number of students coming into North Reading with IEPs calling for out-of-district placements “is something we can’t plan for.”
“The cost of fuel and transportation is going up,” added Superintendent Dr. Patrick Daly.
There is a much lower number of situations in which families unilaterally place students in facilities and assume the cost, although some of the cost may be borne by the district if it is determined it wasn’t providing adequate services to meet the student’s needs.
There are also some cases in which families ask that their children return to the school system, be it in local SPED programs or regular education because they feel the student is ready to do so.
Conant reported out-of-district placements are not as easy to come by as they used to be. “It is a challenge to place a student,” she said. “It’s a supply and demand issue. Our collaboratives used to have space, but now programs are telling us they have waiting lists and there is an issue with retention of their staff.”
Having strong local regular and special education programs can mitigate the need for out-of-district SPED placements. “The strength of the SPED program is related to the strength of regular education,” Conant said. “That quality results in fewer referrals to SPED because students can get the services they need. The effort you put in minimizes dealing with out-of-district placements.”
One example is the Bridge Program, which facilitates students returning to school after long absences, often after medical issues. “Solving problems upstream saves money downstream,” Daly explained. “We’ve created programs that have kept students in the system.”
Other efforts include working with nearby communities to place students or accept them and getting assistance from the state Rehabilitation Commission in the form of in-house instruction on how to provide services and instruction on skills such as life skills for students.
It’s not always possible, however, to find enough students of similar abilities and ages and have staff to regionalize services.
Conant reported that in 2012 and 2024 the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s three year reviews found North Reading in full compliance “across all standards” in SPED, after partial compliance was found in 2015 and 2018. “When we achieve full compliance we can think outside the box and consider new ideas,” she said. “Without compliance you can’t do that.”
She came to the system in 2015, at which time the DESE rated 10 areas of Special Education “partially in compliance.”
By 2018, only three areas were out of compliance. Factors in achieving full compliance included minimizing instability during turnovers in leadership and staff and making sure staff was up-to-date on compliance and creating workflows to ensure the staff was kept up-to-date.
“If you do a good job with SPED, people want to come here,” Committee Chairman Scott Buckley noted. “I know people who want to come here because of that.”
Buckley asked Conant if a family can refuse a recommendation of an out-of-district placement.
She answered they can and in some cases, the matter might be referred to a mediator or the state Bureau of SPED Appeals, but feels having to do so “is detrimental to everyone” due to the emotions involved in the matter.
Conant added that a hearing can cost the town $48,000 in legal fees and more if a ruling is made against the town in which it has to cover the legal costs of the other party.
Conant and Assistant SPED Director Gina Sasso also told the members that staff has been trained to use new IEP forms through workshops, sessions with consultants, using new software to develop IEPs and holding mock IEP meetings. Conant said Sasso “plays a critical role in terms of IEPs and compliance.”
