HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The impact on USD 308 of the Legislature's failure to increase special education funding to the current statutory level is significant.
According to an email from Director of Finance Sheila Meggers to Superintendent Mike Folks provided to Hutch Post, it's hard to break down the statewide number into individual district numbers, but Meggers tried.
"If the state funded 92% of excess costs next year, it would require an additional $155 million," Meggers said. "Our funding in large part is based on the number of special education teachers and paras we have. It is also based on transportation, but that increase would be very minimal. We would only receive 80% of the actual increase in our transportation costs next year. Spreading the $155 million out over the state would add about $10,500 per teacher to special education aid for each teacher and para (paras are counted as 0.4 FTE and teachers as 1.0)"
Here are the numbers based on USD 308 current staff:
Certified: 86.01 FTE x $10,500 = $903,105
Classified: 140.50 FTE x 0.4 x $10,500 = $590,100
TOTAL: $1,493,205
Also, the estimated amount received for each teacher FTE is currently $30,085. That number is not finalized for this year until May/June. For 2022-23, the estimated amount per teacher is $29,200. USD 308 will likely see a decrease in funding for special ed staff next year along with increasing costs.
Additional Special Ed funding did not pass the Legislature, so barring a veto from Governor Kelly, instead of receiving more money, it's likely USD 308 would actually get less.