Board approves opening tuition placements after space-availability and rostering analysis

Sarah, a Lakeland School staff member, presented the triannual space-availability analysis used to decide whether the district can accept tuition-based students from outside Walworth County. She said the district reserves 80% of available seats for Walworth County students and uses multiple weighted data points—standby calls, attendant-care minutes, seclusion/restraint incidents and behavior plans—to evaluate capacity.

Sarah told the board that seclusion and restraint incidents have fallen dramatically (a 95–96% decrease from a 2023 baseline, leaving only five incidents last year), which has reduced the usefulness of that metric. At the same time, standby calls increased by 128% compared with the 2024–25 school year, a metric the district will use going forward. "This is what we want to see, and is a more valid reflection of the amount of support a student needs to manage regulation and behavior during the school day," Sarah said.

Based on the new weighting approach, Sarah said all departments would be open at the onset of the 2026–27 school year for tuition-based placement; kindergarten is the tightest area at roughly 79% filled. Principal Smith then explained rostering and staffing changes—how attendant care, standby calls and direct support needs shape teacher and paraprofessional assignments—and proposed staffing reallocations to preserve tuition seats while meeting IEP-driven service requirements.

The board voted to approve opening tuition placements for the first trimester. Staff emphasized they will reassess numbers after the first trimester and adjust rostering and caseloads as needed.