A longitudinal study of the cost effectiveness of educating students with emotional or behavioral disorders in a public school setting

Since 1991, the cost of educating students with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) in nonpublic and out-of-district school sites has doubled in the State of California. The lack of public-school-based programs to serve students with serious emotional disturbances (SED) has resulted in a dramatic increase in state referrals to nonpublic school sites. A report published in 1994 by a special work group convened to study escalating costs of nonpublic school programs serving students with E/BD revealed over an 8-year period (1983-1984 through 1991-1992) that enrollment growth in nonpublic schools (NPSs) and nonpublic agencies (NPAs) grew by about 30% as compared to 7% in public schools. In addition, costs for NPS and NPA placements grew by over 311%, from $31.7 million in 1983-1984 to $130.2 million in 1991-1992 (California Department of Education, 1994). Currently, over 10,000 California students are being educated in restrictive, nonpublic schools at a cost to the state of over $200 million per year (California Department of Education, 1997a). As a result of these skyrocketing costs, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 599 on February 22, 1993, which was reauthorized as AB 1261 on June 28, 1997. It encouraged public school districts to establish cost-effective programs for individuals with E/BD who otherwise would be, and currently are, placed in nonpublic schools. In response to this request, the Contra Costa County Office of Education applied to the State Department of Education for financial support. With the acceptance of Contra Costa County's application, the AB 599/1261 Project (hereafter identified as the 1261 classroom) was placed at the Floyd 1. Marchus School site to provide intervention and services for elementary and middle school aged students with E/BD. The targeted students are those who are imminently at risk of being placed in a nonpublic school or other more restrictive setting. The 1261 Project was designed to provide quality programs and services at a cost to the public that is no greater than that which is incurred in identified nonpublic settings. Marchus School, located in Concord, California, a suburban area east of San Francisco, is one of two sites in the state to establish such an inclusive education program. This study described powerful social and economic reasons to provide appropriate school district community-based programs for students with E/BD. It also evaluated the costs in providing academic, behavioral, and emotional treatment and appropriate living environments for those students. As a result of the analysis, investigators were able to determine the effectiveness of the 1261 classroom and formulate specific programmatic recommendations based on the project's substantial and significant cost savings and social benefits (California Department of Education, 1997b; MacMillan et al., 1997). The Marchus School In Contra Costa County, the Marchus School is an integral component of a far-ranging continuum of services. This continuum includes classrooms for students from kindergarten through grade 12, as well as special education classrooms, in 21 local school districts. These school districts are served by the Contra Costa County Office of Education Special Education Local Planning Agency (SELPA), a service consortium, which operates satellite classrooms within the school districts as well as a special site, Marchus School. in addition to these publicly operated facilities are nonpublic schools with day and residential components. Table 1 details the levels of service within Contra Costa County schools and the locations where various levels of service are provided. The Marchus School's Counseling and Education Program (CEP) provides special education classes for elementary, intermediate, and middle and senior high school students who are identified as having E/BD and exhibit emotional and behavioral problems. The CEP fosters emotional development and academic achievement. …