A parent at an Allentown School District budget forum said her son, an A student with an IEP, was placed in a classroom mixed with students with behavioral needs and that the arrangement caused her to remove him from school. "My son is one of those who's falling in the cracks," the parent said, urging clearer programming and class placements for students with individualized education programs (IEPs).

District leaders acknowledged the concern and said funding and programming for special education were under review. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Cuff told the audience the district receives about $17,000,000 in special-education subsidy from the state but that the district’s total special-education costs are “close to in the 60, almost $70,000,000 range.” He said the district uses general-fund dollars to cover the gap between state reimbursement and total costs.

Superintendent Dr. Carl Burks said the district recently completed a special-education audit and will present the vendor’s findings publicly. "What we're hearing preliminarily, we're doing some good things, but we need to strengthen our experience for our students," Dr. Burks said, and he asked that families with specific concerns meet with district staff to discuss individual programs and placements.

Special-education staff on the panel urged parents to contact the district’s special-education office for questions about IEP meetings and programming. A district official said the IEP process focuses on student programming and does not typically include dollar figures during meetings; funding questions can be handled separately by program staff.

No policy changes or funding reallocations were adopted at the forum. District staff committed to follow up with parents and to bring audit findings and vendor recommendations to a future public session for review.

Community members at the forum repeatedly asked for clearer communication about which funding streams support particular services (state special-education subsidy, federal Medicaid reimbursements, and general-fund transfers) and about how decisions are made when students need different types of placements. District staff said they will provide follow-up and specific staff contacts for families who requested more information.