Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Since the article, "East Central hands NR-S $70K budget buster," was printed it has been shared amongst NR-S community and NR-S board members stating that the ‘business relationship is broken,’ so I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the article in hopes that it creates a discussion to clarify the concerns raised in the original article.
NR-S is required to provide special education services by law. The increase in cost was due to legally required speech services which were assessed to NR-S as a bill from services from the 2023-24 school year. Speech language pathologists are not easy to find even with the greatest recruitment processes. Districts/Units are needing to hire private companies to provide therapies such as OT, PT and speech. Hourly rates are much higher if a therapist cannot be found, and private contracted services are needed.
At the beginning of each school year the Unit does their best to provide an estimate of the needed therapy services for the upcoming year – sometimes that number is over and sometimes the number is under. There have been many years East Central has provided a reimbursement to NR-S, this year the caseload and the student needs were higher than expected. Again, these services are legally mandated and required by state and federal law, which makes them a "need" not a "want." Furthermore, the most recent amended budget was a recommendation to the EC board/NR-S to prevent another increase at the end of the year (Spring 2025).
The assessment to each district is based on the following: ADM, mills, and direct costs. ADM is a number based on students registered in the district, the mill is determined by taxes/land value, and direct costs are estimated off salaries and reconciliations of direct costs from the previous year. Speech is a direct cost to each district.
Budget increases are taken very seriously by the EC Board. There is ongoing discussion throughout the school year, but especially in the spring and summer months to ensure all members of the board are aware of the EC budget status, as this will have a direct impact on local school district budgets. The following timeline highlights communication from EC to NR-S regarding the costs required to cover student services:
• August 10, 2023 – East Central Board voted yes to increase mills from 2.75 to 5 to offer health insurance to paraprofessionals. This approved a budget increase for NR-S from $499,518.20 (2022-2023) to $540,332.85 (2023-24).
• April 11, 2024 – Email communication between EC and NR-S were had regarding preliminary budget numbers. A discussion was planned to be held at the May board meeting on proposing lowering mills.
• June 17, 2024 – EC Board had discussion on lowering mills and how they affect the budget and the impact on districts. East Central Board voted to maintain current mills.
• June 26, 2024 – E-mail communication and phone calls were made to NR-S on the reconciliation of direct costs regarding speech at NR-S resulting in a bill.
• August 12, 2024 – At the EC board meeting, private contract services were discussed, and an amended budget recommendation was made to reflect the updated contract. EC business manager recommended amending the budget to reflect more accurate costs related to the services/bill. The amended budget was approved.
In summary, NR-S, EC and the community need to work together toward a fresh start. I am hoping the community and NR-S will trust East Central and ask questions if they need clarity. There are lots of wonderful things that are being done at East Central and in the end our goal is to be transparent.
Ashly Wolsky,
Director, East Central
Center for Exceptional Children
