Schools: Pupil Services Costs Are Decreasing

During last year’s prolonged budget battle, Stafford Public Schools managed to keep startup funding for the Effective School Solutions (ESS) program in the budget. The full cost of the program was estimated at about $150,000, but at the time, the district believed it could offset $70,000 of that cost through grant funding. The goal was to keep Stafford’s students in the district, bring some back, and, in the long term, serve out-of-district students to generate revenue. This reporter has been surprised by how little we’ve heard about this program since it’s been in place, but at the January 13, 2026, Board of Education meeting, we finally got a better understanding of how ESS is working.

During a brief discussion about drivers for the 2027 budget, Superintendent of Schools Scott Sugarman mentioned that salary and benefits, transportation, and utilities were the categories driving increases. Sugarman also noted that Pupil Services and out-of-district costs were not shaping up to be a significant budget driver and, in fact, are projected to decrease by over $200,000. 

BOE Secretary Jennifer Biedrzycki asked if the decrease in the Pupil Services costs was related to the implementation of the ESS program. Sugarman indicated that a combination of students remaining in the district to receive specialized services available through ESS and students aging out of the district was responsible for the decreased costs. 

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Whatever the cause, the decrease in this budget line is good news for the district, which is more accustomed to seeing its budget thrown completely out of whack when expensive students need arise mid-year. 

Special education costs have become such a sore point statewide that in May, “The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Thursday increasing regulation and oversight of private special education providers while also providing funds to encourage districts to develop their own in-house programs,” reported CT Mirror. “The bill, which sought to address steeply rising costs of special education, includes $30 million each year for 2026 and 2027 for a new ‘special education expansion grant’ for school districts based on the amount they receive through the state’s Education Cost Sharing formula. The $30 million for 2026 will be added to $221 million already in the budget for special education that year.”