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I've spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out exactly what is going on with ESE. As of right now, Polk County has a $9 million shortfall in ESE funding. They have been having problems with this for over a year now - problems that actually go back to 1997.

There are about 14,000 ESE students in Polk County (out of 79,000 total students). These students are currently placed in one of five categories based upon the nature of their problems. The categories are funded at different rates by the state. The district currently receives

According to the ESE folks in Tallahassee, they changed the scheme for ESE funding and dropped the number of ESE categories from 15 to 5 as of 1997. Polk made their projections for numbers of ESE students using the programs written by the state, and then proceeded to put too many students in the more expensive categories - going way over their budget. There seems to be a major disconnect there - if they knew what they had projected (and knew that that projection was all they would get paid for by the state) then common sense should have told them that they could put only so many students in the more expensive ESE categories and expect to get paid for them.

OK, so Tallahassee noticed that Polk was way out of whack on their ESE numbers, so they called Reynolds and told him that he needed to lower the number of ESE students in the higher categories or Polk would have a multi-million dollar shortfall. They even sent people to Polk to help get the program back on track (twice, I have been told), and when they left, things were apparently looking pretty good.

Unfortunately, they learned a little later that Polk had susequently overcompensated, and moved too many kids into the lowest ESE categories - now they were going to lose funding because they had overestimated the number of ESE students and gotten paid for it - the unused money had to be paid back. Once again, you have to wonder - they knew exactly how many students were projected for each of the 5 categories - how hard could it be to assign the kids to the appropriate categories? I realize we are talking about real children with real needs here, but the board knows that it has to live within its budget, and the acceptable number of students in each category.

If this doesn't quite make sense to anyone, join the club. I've spent hours trying to come up with a rational explanation for this fiasco, and it still doesn't add up for me.

Now, the school board has voted to bring in FICON, Inc., a local financial consulting company to help them restore some of the lost funding. I'm a little concerned about Danny Wheelock, former school board finance director and president of FICON Inc. financial consulting, and Cathy Wooley-Brown, former director of ESE education for Polk schools - the two consultants the board is talking about bringing in. I don't think either one of them has been out of the system all that long, so they could both be part of the problem that led up to this mess. [To be fair, though - I don't know anything about either one of them other than what I read in the one Ledger article concerning this issue.] Worse yet, Dick Brown is also a member of FICON and was apparently very much at the center of the shortfall. Also, it seems to me that Tallahassee has been giving them advice and assistance for free all this time - if Polk had followed that advice, I don't see how we could possibly be in this mess today. I wonder what Wheelock and Wooley-Brown told Jim Nelson to make him so hot to immediately bring them back on board as consultants?

Now I see that my concerns are in agreement with Tallahassee. Education Commisioner Tom Gallagher has written a letter blasting the school board for their contract with FICON. He reminded the board that the state has already worked with Polk to reduce their ESE shortfall by 3.3 million dollars and has twice sent people down to assist Polk with the funding process.

Oh, and don't forget about the 50 paraprofessionals that were hired to help straighten out the ESE mess - I wonder how much that is costing the district?

On Saturday, Sept. 18^th, 1999 The Ledger reported that FICON has already called it quits after two weeks on the job. This whole thing just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. The School Board has now said that the district will attempt to recover the funds on its own (hopefully with the help of DOE).

I am pleased to see that at the Oct. 12th meeting, the School Board voted to hire 1 additional employee to help recover E.S.E. funds lost for the last two years and form a committee to resolve the problems for future years. This committee will put together a database to help teachers properly place all E.S.E. students into the 5 catgories required by the state for full funding. Properly documenting and categorizing the students to match the E.S.E. forecast is what must be done to eliminate the E.S.E. funding problem. Whether or not the board is able to recover funds for past years, at least this will stop the loss of funding for future years.

Articles dealing with ESE funding problems

 Prism of Challenges (ESE) The Ledger, November 7^th, 1999

 School Board OKs Plan to Recoup Funds The Ledger, October 13^th, 1999

Note to FICON Enrages Polk Superintendent of Schools The Ledger, October 6^th, 1999

 Teachers' Negotiators Reject Offer The Ledger, September 30^th, 1999

 District Plans To Recover State Funding On Its Own The Ledger, September 24^th, 1999

 Company Hired By Board Quits The Ledger, September 18^th, 1999

 Selective Smarts The Ledger, September 15^th, 1999

 State Official Blasts Polk Over Contract Fee The Ledger, September 15^th, 1999

 Changes May Have Added to Funding Shortfall The Ledger, September 12^th, 1999

 Group Hired To Recoup State Funds The Ledger, September 8^th, 1999

 School Official Seeks ESE Funding Solution The Ledger, September 2^nd, 1999

 School District Facing Shortfall The Ledger, March 8^th, 1999

 Undone Forms May Cost Schools The Ledger, November 10^th, 1998

 Polk Schools Still Seek 244 Teachers The Ledger, July 12^th, 1999
 Article mentions unfilled ESE teaching positions.

Disabled Students Bag Jobs The Ledger, February 8^th, 1999
 But instead of a paycheck, they work for a grade.

 Reading Skills Fade In Schoolchildren  The Ledger, February 7^th, 1999

 Educators Will Answer Questions The Ledger, February 7^th, 1999
JOYCE BARCLAY-  Exceptional student education coordinator for the Southwest Area of the Polk County School District.

 Buildings Won't Mean An End to Portables The Ledger, January 10^th, 1999
"If we get eight more we'll be able to put the ESE students in permanent buildings."

 Plaintiffs Reviewing Schools' Progress The Ledger, December 15^th, 1998
"Some of the final issues we're still trying to resolve are student discipline and Exceptional Student Education."

 Schools Act to Place Special-Needs Kids The Ledger, November 10^th, 1998

 Students Advance to Regional Test The Ledger, November 2^nd, 1998
"I've been a teacher here for the past three years," she said. "I teach ESE employability skills and work-related skills. We are running our own on-site business, Superior Hornets Enterprize. I really love my students and my job."

 Polk School Enrollment Up The Ledger, October 24^th, 1998
"It seemed to be an increase of students who are attending public schools for one class, like an ESE (Exceptional Student Education) class," Walter said.

 Students Make Honor Roll The Ledger, October 22^nd, 1998
 
 

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