05-03-2025
Killingly to open in-house special education program: How much will it cost? Who is eligible?
As a result of special education tuition costs rising across the state and increasing costs for special education transportation, the Killingly Public School District will open its own specialized education program to students this fall.
'Just in December, EASTCONN notified us that they were raising their special education tuition costs mid-year 15% and transportation 4%,' Susan Nash-Ditzel, superintendent of the Killingly Public School District, said to the Killingly Town Council at their meeting Feb. 11. 'That was Dec. 27, right in the middle of the year. Imagine what that does for our budget when you've budgeted for one tuition and then it goes up 15%.'
The program will be called the Killingly Therapeutic Academy and will be housed on the second floor of the district's central office building located on Westfield Avenue. EASTCONN currently occupies that space but will be leaving by the end of June.
The Academy will offer grades 5-12 and a transition program for students up to their 22nd birthday. It will focus on helping students with behavioral and social emotional challenges.
The Academy will serve both Killingly students as well as students from surrounding towns. Nash-Ditzel said Tuesday morning that other school districts have talked with Killingly about sending students to the Academy, however no formal requests had been made at that time.
To reduce tuition and transportation costs, the program will use Killingly's in-district transportation. The Academy has seats for approximately 24 students in grades 5-12 for the first year. Nash-Ditzel was unsure regarding the number of students who will be in the transition program this fall, saying that it is dependent on how many other districts inquire about their students coming.
'We'll have more control over our special education costs,' Nash-Ditzel said. 'And that's the key to this solution, is having control over our special education costs.'
The Killingly Therapeutic Academy is a partnership between Killingly Public Schools and Effective School Solutions, an agency that provides mental health and behavioral support to school districts. Effective School Solutions will provide the Academy with two clinicians and three behavior technicians.
Nash-Ditzel estimated that the start-up costs for the Academy would be approximately $1 million. This would cover the costs of the Effective School Solutions staff, two additional Killingly Public Schools special education teachers as well as furniture, curriculum and supplies.
Due to the start-up costs, Nash-Ditzel said the district will break even the first year the Academy is open. Recently, she spoke in front of the Appropriations Committee, urging them to expedite the High-Quality Special Education Incentive Grant program.
Administered by the Connecticut State Department of Education, this competitive grant program will increase the capacity of school districts to provide high-quality special education programming in-district and regionally, reducing reliance on out-of-district placements and meeting students' needs as identified in their Individual Education Program in the least restrictive environment. For fiscal year 2027, Gov. Ned Lamont is proposing to allocate $10 million from the General Fund and $4 million in bonds to support it.
"When I testified, basically what I was saying to the Appropriations Committee is we are ready and there are many communities, not just Killingly, that are probably ready to do this now," Nash-Ditzel said in regard to opening the Academy. "I'm not entirely sure the general population understands how much it costs to basically open a school."
Nash-Ditzel said the district currently sends approximately 60 students to out of district programs. She added that that figure reflects all grade levels and can fluctuate.
The district budgeted $4.1 million for out of district placements this school year. While the district will not have enough seats in the Therapeutic Academy to bring back all of the out of district placements next year, Nash-Ditzel hopes the program will grow in order to bring more and more students back into the district.
"There are always going to be some instances where the out of district placement is very specialized for a student's needs," Nash-Ditzel said. "Over time, we're going to grow the program and hopefully bring more of our students back in district."
In time, Nash-Ditzel added that the district also hopes to open the Therapeutic Academy to students in the elementary school grades.
Nash-Ditzel said the benefits of the district having its own special education program are tremendous for students and their families.
"You have Killingly students who are now traveling upwards of an hour, maybe more than an hour, to out-of-district placements," she said. "The further you are away from your school community, the more isolated you can feel. Being back in Killingly, we hope that students will feel more connected to their home school."
Nash-Ditzel added that once the students are enrolled in the Academy, they will have the opportunity to join clubs, watch performances and attend assemblies at their home school. These opportunities will allow them to engage with their peers.
Tuition for students that are out-of-district will be set at $375 a day or $68,000 a school year. The revenue for out-of-district tuition will be put into a special revenue fund that was approved by the Killingly Town Council at their meeting Feb. 11. The special revenue fund will be used for costs associated with the Killingly Therapeutic Academy.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Killingly to open special education program to keep students in district
