Washoe County School District 2017 Senate Bill 49

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WASHOE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT (WCSD) Senate Bill 49

Background: After two interim studies on the outdated Nevada Plan, the 2015 Legislature passed Senate Bill 508 to move Nevada in the direction of a student centered weighted funding formula. Special education students were the first to move forward to weighted funding. The interim committee recommended a weight of 2.0 and a cap on the number of students eligible at 13%.

Why a cap?: The cap was recommended to protect against over identification by districts.

But does a cap really address the issue of over identification?

WCSD believes that state standards for special education student identification based on best practices would better address the highly varied systems used across districts to identify special education students. WCSD has recently invested in a modern Multi-Tiered Systems of Support model that truly minimizes the chance for unnecessary and disproportionate identification. Ultimately the cap is an indirect downward pressure and doesn’t address the process statewide of minimizing incorrect identification efforts.

The cap also appears to be in conflict with federal law requiring districts to seek out students who may qualify for special services. “Child Find” is the affirmative, ongoing obligation of states and local districts to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities residing within the jurisdiction who are in need of special education and related services. 34 CFR 300.111(a)(1)(i). Districts are mandated to seek out children needing special education supports, but the state is only offering to pay for additional services for a certain percentage of these students.

In October of 2016, the United State Department of Education directed Texas to stop using a cap on special education because there had been evidence reported of students being denied services if they were over the cap. It required Texas to prove that this cap had not kept children with disabilities from receiving appropriate services. (See attached)

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Feds-order-Texas-to-eliminate-use-of-benchmark-on-9652019.php?t=6dcfc9f295438d9cbb&cmpid=twitter-premium

Purpose Statement: The Washoe County School District intends to set up a system for supporting special education students that identifies and funds the additional needs for every eligible student in Nevada.

Why 13%: The 13% number was arrived at by using the national average across districts. But the rates across states vary widely from a high of 17.5% in Maine and Massachusetts to 8.6% in Texas. (See chart).

8.6% 9.3% 10.3%10.4%10.8%11.1%11.1%11.1%11.4%11.5%11.8%12.0%12.1%12.5%12.6%12.7%12.9%12.9%12.9%12.9%13.0%13.1%13.1%13.3%13.3%13.3%13.4%13.8%13.9%13.9%14.0%14.1%14.2%14.2%14.4%14.6%14.8%15.1%15.1%15.3%15.6%15.7%15.8%16.2%16.5%16.6%16.7%16.9%17.5%17.5%

0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% 18.0% 20.0%Texas

HawaiiAlabama

LouisianaMontana

ArizonaUtah

North CarolinaNorth Dakota

WyomingConnecticut

TennesseeArkansasMissouri

New MexicoWisconsinDelawareKentucky

OhioOklahoma

New HampshireWest VirginiaRhode Island

New JerseyMassachusetts

Percent of Students with Disability in Public Schools across US States, 2013/14

Why 13%: The 13% number was arrived at by using the national average across districts. But the rates across states vary widely from a high of 17.5% in Maine and Massachusetts to 8.6% in Texas. (See chart).

Washoe County School District 2017 Senate Bill 49

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Interestingly, in Nevada, the range of rates between districts also ranges from 17 to 8%. 12 of the 18 districts are over the 13% cap according to the Report of Per Pupil Expenditures and Recommendations for Legislation put out by the Nevada Department of Education pursuant to Senate Bill 508. According to this report, 626 students in Washoe County School District (and 1,300 statewide) didn’t qualify for any special education funds from the state.

Is 13% the right number? If so, why?

What’s the right number? The best approximation may be 15.4 percent. That’s how many U.S. kids ages 2-8 whom doctors have diagnosed with a mental, behavioral or developmental disorder, according to a March 2016 study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6509a1.htm?s_cid=mm6509a1_w).

Does the cap support our economic development efforts?: What message does this cap send to families moving to Nevada? WCSD has had several calls from concerned

parents relocating to Nevada as a result of our economic development efforts that fear their special needs children moving into the district won’t receive necessary services because we are over the cap and won’t receive additional funding. They are reassured that their children will receive all the support they need, but then the district is in the position to reduce funding for general education students to subsidize the special education needs not met by federal or state funds. This is a perfect example of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Recommendation: After further consideration, WCSD believes this cap should be removed and if identification rates are questionable, efforts should be focused on standardizing district processes across the state.

Every eligible student needing special education supports should be funded as such at the state level. Strong accountability measures should be in place to prevent over identification of students, but this issue should not be paired with important and necessary resources to support a struggling subset of students across Nevada.

Interestingly, in Nevada, the range of rates between districts also ranges from 17 to 8%. 12 of the 18 districts are over the 13% cap according to the Report of Per Pupil Expenditures and Recommendations for Legislation put out by the Nevada Department of Education pursuant to Senate Bill 508. According to this report, 626 students in Washoe County School District (and 1,300 statewide) that didn’t qualify for any special education funds from the state.

Is 13% the right number? If so, why?

17.0% 17.0%16.0% 16.0%

15.0% 15.0%14.0% 14.0% 14.0% 14.0% 14.0% 14.0%

12.0% 12.0%11.0% 11.0%

8.0% 8.0%

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

14.0%

16.0%

18.0%

Special Education Rates by District

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