$30M more needed to adequately fund special education in Nevada, Legislature told

An additional $30 million in special education funding for Nevada students over the next two years will help districts better bridge the gap in meeting student needs, officials said Wednesday.

In 2017, the state began funding special education as a “weight,” meaning those students are funded on a higher per-pupil basis than traditional students.

Statewide, special education students were weighted $3,034 higher than the average per pupil funding of $5,774 for the 2017 fiscal year, state Superintendent Steve Canavero told Senate finance and Assembly ways and means committees.

That number varied across the state, based on district per-pupil averages and the number of students with disabilities in each district. In Clark, the average was $2,968.

The new weight has benefited Clark County, Lyon County and the State Public Charter School Authority the most, Canavero said.

“We’re trying to grow the districts with the lowest per-pupil rate,” Canavero said.

The proposed budget adds $10 million for fiscal year 2018 and $20 million for fiscal year 2019 for special education.

Assemblywoman Olivia Diaz, D-North Las Vegas, wanted to know if the state was able to break the weight down further, based on individualized education plans and what the plans cost.

The severity of special education students vary, some may need a full-time nurse and others may just need a weekly visit with a speech therapist, she noted.

“Not all IEPs are created equal. We’re affixing an amount to enhance that child’s education but their IEPS look significantly different and may require more resources,” Diaz said.

Will Jensen, the state’s director of special education, pointed to a contingency fund created in 2015 as a way to help districts that may need to pay for special education programs.

“We do have $5 million, just about, to be able to contribute to districts that come up against extraordinary costs,” he said.

Canavero also touched upon plans for the state’s Zoom program, which targets schools with high populations of English-language learners, and the Victory program, which provides extra money for schools in areas of high poverty.

Those programs are the next steps toward creating weights in those areas, he said.

Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.