Special education funding in question

about the families who don’t make that phone call.

Three-year-olds whose parents don’t know how to navigate the system stand to lose out on free preschool altogether and 4-year-olds with disabilities could get just 15 hours a week, half what they’re supposed to.

Hanson said those extra hours can make a big difference since students with disabilities sometimes need double or triple the repetition and exposure to classroom learning compared with their typically developing peers.

The low number of hours offered to 3-year-olds also puts a burden on parents, said Elisa Aucancela, executive director of El Grupo Vida, a nonprofit that supports Hispanic families who have children with disabilities.

Her brother, who has a 3-year-old daughter with a disability, is “still struggling due to the part-time for 3-year-olds” she said. “It’s a really difficult challenge for some families because what are they going to do for the other half of the time when they need to work?”

Several school district leaders worry about how the state is handling $33 million that used to go to school districts to help cover preschool special education costs. They fear the money — which amounts to $36,000 a year in small districts like Englewood and up to $4 million in large districts — now will be mixed into the general universal preschool funding pot, and won’t be set aside for services for students with disabilities.

If that happens, districts will have to use local dollars to cover lost state money since they’re legally required to cover special education services. Hundley said that means funding for staff like psychologists and speech therapists who provide mandated services to students with disabilities gets diverted from other district priorities.

Even though state funding for special education has increased in recent years, districts still cover about two-thirds of those costs out of their local budgets.

State officials estimate they’ll spend at least $33 million — and possibly more — on what they call “general education” seats for students with disabilities. But Hundley said school districts want the state to direct that money specifically to special education services, which is how it has been used in the past.

Beyond money, the uncertainty about funding raises questions about how two state agencies — the early childhood department and the education department — are divvying up overlapping responsibilities.

In response to Chalkbeat’s questions about funding for preschoolers with disabilities, the education department first referred questions to the early childhood department. After the two agencies signed an agreement this week outlining how they’d work together, the early childhood department referred questions to the education department. On Friday, the two departments released emailed answers together. Neither granted an interview.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.