Special Education Shortfall Leads To Music Cuts In West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Blindsided after state officials told West Hartford school administrators they were not reimbursing special education at the budgeted rate, the school board Tuesday made up the difference at the expense of an instrumental music teacher.

The West Hartford Board of Education voted unanimously, 7-0, Tuesday to finalize its 2023-24 spending plan, which was set last week as part of the West Hartford Town Council's adoption of the 2023-24 town/school budget.

Part of that package is a $190.2 million school budget, a spending plan $250,000 more than what the superintendent requested at the start of the process and $66,441 larger than what the full board of education adopted April 4.

While the bottom line was finalized last week by the council, how the budget would be spent wasn't, which is what the board voted on Tuesday.

And one casualty was the equivalent of a full-time instrumental music teacher, a controversial issue earlier in the budget season and prior to the special education issue coming to light.

Parent and pupil protests urged support for the district's music department, especially from those from Wolcott Elementary School, where participation and support is particularly noteworthy.

"We know that from when we first voted on the budget, it's been quite an eventful time period," said West Hartford Board of Education Chairperson Lorna Thomas-Farquarson.

According to West Hartford Acting Superintendent of Schools Paul Vicinus, the district budgeted for an 85 percent special education tuition reimbursement rate for "excess costs."

What was reimbursed, however, according to Vicinus, was 74 percent, creating a shortfall.

For the current, 2022-23 education budget, West Hartford was saddled with an immediate $700,000 shortfall, one taken care of via emergency reserve funds.

That, however, cannot be counted on for 2023-24, so school administrators recommended the $66,441 be utilized for special education placements at the expense of the music teaching position.

Plus, Vicinus said the pupil population in West Hartford has declined by 300 over the past decade, when the prior music teacher staffing roster was set.

The hope is the lost teaching time won't impact music education as much since student populations are down anyway.

School officials said the special ed shortfall in 2023-24 is not known because the district's special education situation isn't yet finalized, but they expect it will be higher than the $66,441.

Education officials Tuesday admitted the move might not sit well with music supporters.

But, administrators said, special education is a mandated service, one becoming more expensive and one that can fluctuate within a budget year.

"Despite the fact that we do have dramatic support and interest to look in other areas of our budget to include the music program, the most responsible thing for us to do with this allocation, in my opinion, would be to put it forward toward the special education outplacement funding," Vicinus said.

The school chief said special education outplacements are for pupils whose physical and emotional educational needs cannot be met in house.

And, while expensive, it's also required, both by law and "morally," Vicinus said.

"We're talking at the end of the day about very costly educational programming that is 100 percent appropriate for our students, 100 percent deserved and statutorily required," Vicinus said.

"This is not an easy choice," he said. "This is not something that is necessarily, pitting one service above another. It's a genuine financial constraint that we've been faced with."

School board members ultimately supported the spending revisions, but they expressed regret it had to be done.

School board member Gayle Harris said if the school system could handle the $700,000 issue this budget year, why couldn't it handle the issue next budget year.

Said Harris: "I guess I'm struggling a little bit with the fact that we can find $700,000 that's sort of, for lack of a better term, lying around, but when we want to fund a music position, we can't find those funds. I just find it sort of odd that we can, sort of, find that amount of money."

Ultimately, administrators explained the reserve funding options utilized this budget are not blank checks and can only be spent for certain items.

School officials said other school districts are dealing with this special education funding crisis as well and how the state reimburses special education, ultimately, must be reformed.

"We were not anticipating being in this predicament," said Thomas-Farquarson.

For more information on the additional funding in the school budget, click on this link.

From April 5: 'Public Talks, West Hartford BoE Listens: Adds To Budget'