Jefferson Schools Getting More Money for Special Education

Jefferson Township is receiving more money for special education the state Department of Education has announced.

The township will receive $709,436 in extraordinary aid for special education, which is an increase of $207,218 over last year’s total of $502,218.

“This will allow us to shift some funding and address some needs in other areas—which is always good news since we made so many cuts last year,” said Dr. Kathaleen Fuchs, superintendent of schools for Jefferson Township.

She declined to elaborate on exactly what those areas were.

“These are yet to be finalized,” Fuchs said. “Our central office has identified some, but they need to be discussed with the Board of Education first.”

The formula the state used this year to make allocations for special education allotments was described earlier this week by NJSpotlight.com.

For special-needs students in-district who cost over $40,000, the state would pay from 75 percent to 90 percent of the additional cost, depending on services. In out-of-district schools, the threshold is $55,000, after which the state would pay 75 percent, the guidelines said.

But districts are only receiving some of the funds for which they're theoretically eligible, because of the state's own fiscal problems. The NJ Spotlight piece further notes that given the increasingly high cost of providing for special education, it's fairly common for the cost to educate a classified child to far exceed $40,000. 

"The $40,000 is almost outdated. I’m not sure that it is so extraordinary any more," Brenda Considine, coordinator for the New Jersey Coalition for Special Education Funding Reform, told the news and issues analysis site.

Read the full NJ Spotlight piece here.