Santa Rosa board votes to form district SELPA after fiscal review

Director Fisher presented the district’s analysis of forming its own Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). The change was prompted by a recent shift in the county SELPA’s allocation model that the district says will create a multi‑million dollar change in special‑education revenues; staff said the two‑year phase‑in left Santa Rosa City Schools facing an ongoing revenue reduction estimated at about $3.4 million under the new county allocation formula.

Fisher said a fiscal analysis and consultant review found a net revenue advantage to forming a district SELPA (estimated at roughly $1,150,000) when accounting for the shift in how state funds are pooled and allocated. Staff acknowledged added operational costs — including hiring 2 FTE to cover deaf/hard‑of‑hearing (DHH) services now provided by the county — and the need to negotiate inter‑SELPA agreements for some county‑level programs (such as the Hidden Valley DHH regional program).

Trustees debated local control, predictability, and possible service‑delivery changes. Trustee Medina pressed for detail on the $550,000 operating cost estimate (staff said it includes hires and some reallocation of workload) and asked whether costs were conservative. Staff said figures were based on current data and not overly optimistic. After discussion the board voted to move forward with forming an internal SELPA and asked staff to return with final implementation steps and MOUs as needed.

Next steps: staff to prepare implementation plan, MOUs with county where needed, and a timeline for transfer of functions and associated budget changes.