Hamilton County Schools administrators told the finance committee they plan to hold general-purpose funding for exceptional education near FY25 levels while changing how in-school staffing is allocated to match student needs.

Superintendent Ed Robertson said the draft continues a roughly $54 million general-purpose allocation that the administration identifies as the district's exceptional-education support baseline and noted the district also expects IDEA-related funding of about $11.6 million. "That 54 includes that 54. But since there's been a lot of conversation about it, we wanted to make sure that we represented what that total amount was going towards x ed," Robertson said.

Why it matters: Maintaining the overall dollar investment while moving to a service-hour or "acuity" model changes where individual positions are assigned. Administration said the objective is to ensure maintenance-of-effort requirements for special education are met while aligning staff to students' demonstrated needs rather than a straight head-count formula.

Administration described a $1.6 million item the board previously discussed: funding that in earlier versions was a set of direct positions but in the draft is proposed to be reinvested into additional Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), registered behavior technicians (RBTs) and roving assistants. Robertson said those choices are intended to keep support in buildings while providing more flexible, needs-based responses.

Mary Ellen, a finance staff member, explained that exceptional-education budgets draw from multiple revenue lines: the operating fund (general purpose), federal IDEA allocations and state grants. The administration said it will return with a line-item summary showing "exceptional education instruction" and "exceptional education support" totals so the board can see the combined investment across funding sources.

Board members raised practical questions about vacancies and reassignment. Robertson said that at the start of the school year the district had open positions in special education (day-one figures cited: roughly 19 exceptional-education teachers and 19 assistants), and that some of the positions proposed for reduction could be filled by staff reassignment if needs move between schools. "There are positions, and we will make sure that everyone has a position," Robertson said, while acknowledging that some staff might have to move from one school to another.

Board members pressed for assurance that maintenance-of-effort rules would be preserved. Robertson said the district expects to meet maintenance-of-effort by reinvesting savings into exceptional-education programs and related services rather than reducing total special-education spending. Mary Ellen added that IDEA (federal) funding has not kept pace with rising costs and that the district has had to use general-purpose dollars to fill gaps in recent years.

The administration plans to bring detailed spreadsheets and the appendix materials on staffing to future meetings; the finance book includes position-level appendices and a one-page list showing which central positions are vacant versus filled. No board action or votes were taken at the meeting; the discussion was advisory.