Department of Education / Special Education / The Circuit Breaker

* Prior to FY04, this account was called “special education residential schools.”

This chapter focuses on the House of Representatives’ FY06 budget recommendations for the Special Education Circuit Breaker line item within the Department of Education (DOE). For additional information on the impacts of FY01–FY05 budget cuts and more details about program services, go to the People First website at www.mass.gov/mddc/peoplefirst/index.html and click on the Department of Education/Special Education/The Circuit Breaker chapter in the Volume I table of contents.

Line Item Analysis

Account: Special Education Circuit Breaker
Line Item: 7061-0012

The Special Education Circuit Breaker account funds the Circuit Breaker reimbursement formula that the legislature created to help school districts cope with extraordinary special education costs. Under the Circuit Breaker, as many as 12,000 students triggered some form of reimbursement to their school districts in FY04. The Circuit Breaker formula is supposed to pay for 75% of special education expenses that are above 4 times the average per pupil foundation budget. In other words, any time a district spends more than $29,328 in a school year to educate a single special education student, 75% of the excess should be reimbursed to the district by the state (whether the student is in an out-ofdistrict or an in-district program). Full funding of the Circuit Breaker was part of the promise of special education reform passed in FY01.

FY06 Needs
The Board of Education had sought a $215 million appropriation for this account in FY06. DOE now says level funding is sufficient. Special Education children’s advocates are seeking a $1 million increase (to $8.5 million in total) for the Department of Education/Department of Mental Retardation residential placement prevention earmark. They cite a 2-year waiting list for this program that successfully keeps students living with their families and in their communities.

House Budget Recommendations

Both the House budget and H1 for FY06 recommend level funding. The House budget includes numerous earmarks. There is $8,750,000 for voluntary residential placement prevention programs between the Department of Education and other agencies within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) that develop community-based support services for children and their families, of which $7,500,000 is specifically for DMR (level with FY05). There is $1 million for monitoring, $500,000 for administration of the circuit breaker, and $3,000,000 to reimburse school districts for emergency special education expenses (that are at minimum 25% beyond the previous year’s costs). Finally, $575,000 is earmarked for audio taped textbooks for special needs students (with $25,000 for a pilot program) and $300,000 is earmarked for start up grants to create a pilot program to address the need for coordinated transportation to out-of-district special education placements through education collaboratives.