Opinion ID: 2294246
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 28

Heading: Speech-only costs

Text: Speech-only special education costs cover resources for students who only require speech services or language development. Davy, 1 T 35:12-21. These costs are funded fully under the Adequacy Budget. N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-51(e). Therefore, these costs are all wealth equalized, as the Adequacy Budget is the wealth equalized portion of SFRA. In determining speech-only costs, the State used the PJP process as contrasted to actual expenditure data, Pittman, 8 T 20:21-21:14, as districts do not identify expenditures for speech in a way that they could be readily identified for the actual cost analysis. D-12 at 16; see also D-1 ¶ 35. The average excess cost for speech-only special education is $1,082 per pupil. D-12 at 16. In funding speech-only special education, SFRA employs the census-based method, funding districts at the average state classification rate of 1.897%. D-12 at 16. District funding is determined by multiplying the total district enrollment by the excess cost for speech-only special education ($1,082) and by the state average classification rate for speech-only pupils. N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-51(e). Speech = Resident Enroll × State Avg. Speech-Only Class Rate × Excess Cost = 24,624 × 1.897% × $1,081.61 = $505,238.72