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Lowell amendment approved by state association

If you saw Wednesday’s Lowell School Committee meeting (top issues: sex ed and special ed—watch for later post on this), you may have noticed my absence. I am currently at the Mass. Assoc. of School Committees (MASC) joint conference with the Mass. Assoc. of School Superintendents (MASS) in Hyannis. As the representative from the Lowell School Committee, I presented an amendment to the MASC delegation, which represents members from 99% of the 391 school districts across the state. The amendment, which passed resoundingly, involves special education student assignments and could save Lowell about a half million dollars in out-of-district tuition if made law. Now that the amendment has passed MASC, it will become part of four resolutions the association will bring forward to the state legislature. Although the other resolutions make sense and are important, they all require additional funding from the state. The Lowell proposal will NOT cost the state additional money, but will give local districts that must pay the bill, a say in where our children are educated when taken into DSS care.  (Currently school systems do not have a voice in determining if a student can remain in a public day school when placed in a residential facility by the Department of Children and Family Services, which burdens the district with paying private day school tuition and is disruptive, as well as limiting to the children involved.) As we all face difficult economic times, it is vital that the state repeal regulations that add unnecessary costs to local districts, particularly those with questionable benefits to students. This is a step in that direction.

posted in Education, Money Matters, State Concerns | 0 Comments

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