Board OKs money to reduce special education class size

Monday, March 20, 2000 | 10:36 a.m.

RENO -- Lowering class sizes for some of the estimated 35,000 handicapped students in Nevada will start this July.

The state Board of Education agreed Saturday to set aside $4 million in federal funds to pay the costs for the school districts, which complained initially the new regulation on class-size reduction was an unfunded mandate.

The board's decision was met by applause from the audience, filled with speech pathologists who teach children with special needs.

The board had considered delaying the start of the reduced class size until July 2001, giving the Legislature a chance to finance the program.

"We need to consider the children first, not the money," board member Doris Femenella of Las Vegas said.

Board members said those running for the Legislature this year should be pressured to finance the program in the future.

At an earlier meeting the board agreed to reduce the class size for speech and language from 60 students to 50 students and the general resource room and early childhood programs from 24 students to 22 students per instructor. Critics had said Nevada's special education classrooms are bigger than the national average.

While the school districts agreed with the decision, they complained of not having the money to fund the program. State legislators were critical of the education board for adopting the class-size reduction without available money and suggested the board take $4 million from federal funds to get the project started.

Even though there is $4 million available in federal funds, it probably won't cover all of the expenses.

Clark County alone estimates it will cost $3.7 million next year to meet the proposed reduction. Washoe County said it will need $900,000, a total of $4.6 million before any money is allocated to rural Nevada.

Walt Rulffes, assistant superintendent in the Clark County School District, said he wants a chance to study the board's action before commenting. But he said it does put the pressure on the Legislature to come up with funds in the future.

One of the priorities the board agreed on at its Saturday meeting is that the state should pump more money into special education to take the burden off school districts, which now use $129 million of their regular budgets to pay for the classes.

The board wants the state to pick up the full cost over the next four years. And it also wants general per-pupil funding by the state to reach the national average over the next four years. It is now about $581 below the national average, educational officials said.

According to figures compiled by the state Department of Education, the state provided $1,926 per student in the 1996-97 school year. That was 47th in the nation.

The state also ranked next to last in the amount of federal funds it receives per student at $251.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mary Peterson said she is working with Nevada's office in Washington, D.C., to get up-to-date lists of what federal grants are available in order to shake more money from the government.