The fog shrouding solutions to ease the financial impact of a cluster of group homes on the Shoreline School District may be clearing.
A state House committee meeting on Friday, Dec. 2, to outline potential solutions drew representatives from the governor’s office, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, state Department of Social and Health Services and Shoreline School District.
“We pretty much resolved the direction and everyone is on board with it,” said Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park, who chairs the House Children and Family Services Committee and sits on the Appropriations Committee. “I think if we need another meeting we will call one, but at this point I don’t think we do.”
Fodor Homes, LLC, has six foster homes in the vicinity of 40th Avenue NE., in Lake Forest Park, and caters to autistic children. The group homes have become a source of controversy because the 29 children who live in them require more expensive special education classes and other services that cost the school district $1.2 million during the past two years.
Two issues were discussed at the meeting: how to remedy the short-fall from last year and how to move forward a solution so the funding problem will not recur.
The outcome of the meeting, Kagi said, was a decision to focus efforts on a budget proviso that would appropriate funding to reimburse the Shoreline School District. This would remedy the short-fall from the past two years.
“Appropriations staff and senate Ways and Means will meet to work on drafting a proviso,” Kagi said.
The budget starts in the Senate this year, and Kagi said Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, will strive to include the proviso in the initial budget. If the proviso is not in the budget when it leaves the Senate, then Kagi will amend it and try to approve it in the budget when it reaches the House.
To address the long-term funding issue, Kagi said the Washington Learns Steering Committee will be asked to assess the situation. Washington Learns is Gov. Christine Gregoire’s effort to look at the state of the education system, followed by an action plan to improve the system, including legislative proposals.
State Rep. Bill Fromhold, D-Vancouver, is vice chair of the House Appropriations committee and serves on the House Higher Education committee. He is also a member of the Washington Learns panel, Kagi said, and has been requested to bring the issue to the Washington Learns Steering Committee.
“For the longer term, beyond this next year, we asked Bill Fromhold to bring to the Washington Learns Steering Committee the issue of special education funding for children in state care,” Kagi said.
Safety-net funding also may be adequate to address some or all of the school district funding needs, Kagi said, but this will not be determined until well into the session.
Fairley, who attended the meeting, said that because safety-net funding was increased by an extra $19 million last year, it may remedy the entire problem for the school district, which received $169,000 in safety-net funding for 2004-2005.
The school district could apply for more safety-net funding, Fairley said, who was surprised to learn that district staff missed the first of two application deadlines.
“Evidently, they have to fill out this new application,” Fairley said. “I was kind of surprised to find out they didn’t get into the first round.”
Safety-net funding will be part of the solution, Shoreline School District Superintendent Jim Welsh said, but he does not consider it to be a total fix to the issue as the costs the district is experiencing are extraordinarily high.
“I doubt the state would be willing to pay for all that through safety-net funding,” Welsh said.
The school district will meet the second safety-net application deadline in January, he said.
“By going with the January deadline, it allows the district to cite accurate personnel costs,” Welsh said.
Welsh said he was encouraged by the meeting, especially after hearing officials discuss legislation to reimburse the school district for costs incurred the past two years, as well as future expenditures.
“There seems to be an appreciation of urgency to get some relief to the district this year,” Welsh said. “I am very impressed with the legislative support for our plight.”
Although both short-term and long-term solutions have been identified, there is still more work to be done, legislators say.
“At the meeting we were simply looking at helping the schools out and what can we do,” Fairley said. “But it doesn’t answer the clustering issue.”
To help remedy the clustering issue, Kagi has drafted a bill that may require DSHS to assess concentration of facilities when licensing homes. Currently, the concentration of facilities is not criteria included in an evaluation. Kagi’s bill specifies that the state must consider whether the existence of similar facilities at the location may adversely impact the clients, including the ability of clients to be integrated into the community.
“Ruth and I will be running a bill that says DSHS should take a look at clustering as one of the many things they look at when they license group homes,” Fairley said.
It is a controversial question, Fairley said, because parents with autistic children seem to be pleased with services provided by Fodor Homes.
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