Study: Special-education costs high

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District paid nearly double the

average state percentage for its special-education programs last

year, according to a report issued by School Services of California.

At the district’s board meeting Tuesday, school services vice

president Paul Goldfinger and educational consultant Sharon Popp

presented the results of a two-month study they conducted of

Newport-Mesa’s special-education programs. In April, district

officials had contacted a group in Sacramento help determine how to

lower special-education costs in the coming years.

Among the report’s findings were that Newport-Mesa’s percentage of

students in special education was slightly higher than the state

average in 2003-04, that its percentage of autistic students was more

than double the state’s, and that the district footed nearly 50% of

its special-education costs -- compared with the average California

district, which paid around 25%.

The purpose of the report was to recommend cost-cutting measures

for the district, rather than to analyze the numbers. However,

Goldfinger and Supt. Robert Barbot attributed Newport-Mesa’s high

special-education costs to legal action by parents and to the high

number of families who move to the area to raise their children.

“Number one, we have parents who pay close attention specifically

to their kids,” Barbot said. “Number two, we have a good reputation

in the state, so families with students with particular needs are,

perhaps, more particular about where their kids go to school. And

number three, in the area of autism, which is where our biggest

growth is, there’s a high percentage [of children diagnosed] in

professional families.”

The 27-page report praised Newport-Mesa for a number of the

measures it has taken on behalf of special education in recent years.

Since last fall, the district has created an autism-specialist

position and has hired more speech and occupational therapists. In

addition, special education co-directors Patrick Ryan and Denise

Knudsen have implemented a software program to keep track of student

records.

“The district is aiming to expand its own expertise instead of

relying on contracted services,” Goldfinger told the board Tuesday.

He and Popp also pointed out areas for improvement, citing

Newport-Mesa’s high number of special-education students as the

result of a lack of early interventions. By addressing children’s

problems at a young age, the report argued, the district can lower

the number of students who will eventually require special-education

services.

Children become eligible for special services after going through

student study teams in which teachers and administrators evaluate the

difficulties students are having in class. Goldfinger and Popp,

however, urged Newport-Mesa to adopt a districtwide model for study

teams to ensure consistency, and to keep statistics on the number of

students who are evaluated by the teams but do not move on to

special-education programs.

“People perceive the [study teams] as a fast track to special

education, and we want to make sure we’re not placing kids in special

education who don’t really deserve to be there,” Popp said.

The report suggested that Newport-Mesa provide more

special-education training to general-education teachers and

administrators, and that the district initiate a public-relations

campaign to better trumpet its programs. Although Newport-Mesa has a

below-average number of students enrolled in private schools, it has

89 students attending class -- under Newport-Mesa tuition -- at the

county office or in other districts.

A constant problem for Newport-Mesa in recent years has been

parent litigation, which often leads the district to transfer

students elsewhere while still paying their education costs.

According to Mark Hargon, the office manager of the state Special

Education Hearing Office, Newport-Mesa had 41 due process hearing

requests at the end of the third fiscal quarter this year, tying with

the San Francisco Unified School District for the third-most in the

state.

To keep more families in the district, Newport-Mesa is seeking to

expand its programs and staff. The district’s tentative 2005-06

budget allots $24.97 million for special education, a nearly

$2-million increase from the current year.

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