Westport school administrators hope a new fund up for a vote at Town Meeting next month will help insulate them from the rising cost of educating and busing special education students.

Last Thursday, members of the Westport Finance Committee recommended voting ‘Yes” on Warrant Article 43 at next month’s meeting. If approved, it would establish a “stabilization fund” to help defray unanticipated special education and busing costs. When they were done discussing that article, members also recommended the passage of the next question (article 44), which would, if passed, seed the fund with $55,496 in unexpended capital funds that had been earmarked for a paging system at Westport Elementary.

Superintendent Thomas Aubin said Friday that the stabilization fund is sorely needed, as associated costs are soaring and are expected to rise as more and more students qualify for a broadening array of special  services.

This year alone, more than half of the $1.1 million spending increase asked for for the 2024-25 school year (roughly $630,000) would go toward rising special education and busing costs, Aubin said. And over the past three years, the percentage of special education students enrolled in Westport schools has climbed from 18.6 percent to 24.8 percent this year.

While Aubin doesn’t begrudge any student who comes looking for an education in Westport — “we accommodate whoever comes in through the door” — the often unexpected costs that accompanies them is crippling the district, he said.

This past autumn was a prime example, he said.

Well after the date at which total enrollment is counted, two students entered special education here and as such, the district was obliged by federal and state law to cover associated costs. In total, those two students will cost the district $274,554 this year — $172,179 for the cost of out-of-district tuition for one, and $102,375 in additional transportation costs.

The nature of the law regarding the district’s responsibilities is such that Aubin doesn’t see unanticipated costs decreasing. In fact, he said, since the pandemic the number of students who require special services has dramatically increased and it’s a trend he said continues.

“We’re seeing more of this, especially in the area of social emotional learning, since the pandemic,” he said.

He said not being able to plan for unexpected expenses puts the district in a difficult position, as new programs and increased services often fall by the wayside.

Of the $1.1 million increase asked for this year, he said, the remainder after special education and transportation costs are subtracted comes out to about $450,000. And those are going to fixed costs that the district can’t control — salaries, benefits, operational costs and the like.

“That’s what people don’t understand,” he said. “The $1.1 million increase over last year was a level service budget. It wasn’t to add programming.”