“He just took so long to do his work, and we couldn’t figure out if it was because he wasn’t understanding the concepts,” Restivo said.
An evaluation confirmed the dyslexia, and Coppell ISD placed him into its special education program. Restivo said she later learned he also had dysgraphia, a learning disability that impairs handwriting ability, per the International Dyslexia Association.
Since 2023, CISD has served dyslexic and dysgraphic students solely through special education, which has increased program enrollment along with spending, said Stephanie Flores, CISD executive director for intervention services.
The details
State funds don’t cover all the program costs, Chief Financial Officer Diana Sircar said. CISD received nearly $10 million in special education funding from the state in 2022-23, Sircar said. Another $2 million came through an annual federal special education grant.
The district also receives about $1.2 million a year through the federal School Health and Related Services program, which reimburses districts for special education services. However, in 2017, the Office of the Inspector General audited Texas reimbursements and found some services ineligible. As a result, CISD’s School Health and Related Services funding dropped $700,000 last year, Sircar said.
All three revenue streams covered around 60% of CISD’s program expenses in 2022-23, leaving the rest for CISD to fund through reallocation and other methods.
The state allocates special education funding based on instructional settings, such as speech therapy, Sircar said. Settings vary by disability, and each has a different weight the state multiplies by the basic per student allotment.
HB 3 slightly increased this weight in 2019, but the funding model has been in place since the 1990s, according to the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding.
The impact
Growing program enrollment means conducting more student evaluations, a necessity to determine eligibility.
The enrollment-contingent state funding doesn’t cover evaluations, which cost $1,500 each, according to the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding. Districts also evaluate more students than they serve, which burns through resources, said April Estrada, Region 10 director of special populations.
Finding qualified evaluation staff is also a challenge, Flores said.
“When we can’t fill positions, we tend to use contracted services, and then it’s more expensive,” she said.
CISD is pursuing a grant to help fund these contracted services, Flores said.
As of April 19, CISD is serving 1,548 students through special education.
- 285 evaluations in 2023-24
- 246 eligible evaluated students in 2023-24
- $427,500 total evaluation cost in 2023-24
- 10-12 hours per evaluation
CISD special education enrollment increased by almost 57% between 2018-2023. When compared to similar-sized districts, such as Waco ISD and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, CISD has spent more on special education overall and per student since 2020-21 despite lower program enrollment, per Texas Education Agency data.
In 2022-23 CISD spent $1,544 per student compared to GCISD’s $1,236 and WISD’s $1,153.
“[The reason CISD spends more is] difficult to nail down, but it may be the type of students that we serve have more severe needs,” Sircar said.
Also of note
In a 2022 report to the 88th Texas Legislature, the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding recommended a service-based funding model, direct funding for evaluations and other changes. The model categorizes students into weighted funding tiers based on need.
Districts could have seen the new formula model during the 2026-27 school year, according to the report, but the Legislature did not approve the changes when Senate Bill 1474 failed to pass.
“So even though we’re looking at the budget and at different ways to support our learners despite not having adequate funding from the state or federally, I feel like we’re in a good place,” Flores said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect accurate information. The 88th Texas Legislature did not approve the service-based funding model. The photo caption has also been updated to reflect the correct name of Multisensory Language Instruction.
