FY10 Budget–Thoughts on Student Services
The Student Services section of the FY10 proposed school budget has a number of interesting proposals. For several years I’ve heard that it would be less expensive to serve “in-house” many of our students who are currently placed out-of-district due to special needs. These savings would arise because the costs are more controllable when Newton provides the services. Currently, NPS is told how much it needs to pay to send students to certain day or residential programs–there is no room for adjustment or negotiation. For FY10, the costs of these programs will increase 8% from FY09.
The proposals we heard last night also add the essential element of meeting these students’ needs in a thorough, thoughtful, and supportive way. This is truly a win-win situation–the students will be well-served (maybe even better-served since they can remain closer to home) and NPS will see significant cost savings.