Special education reserves to be split among schools

St. Joseph County’s nine public school districts will share a rebate in excess of $230,000 of 2014-15 unspent special-education reserves.
St. Joseph County Intermediate School District, overseer of the county’s special education services for qualified people up to age 26, will pay the districts in three installments, according to superintendent Barb Marshall.
The first payment was scheduled to take place Friday, while the remaining two will be allocated in February and March. The amount provided to each district is based on its percentage of the county’s special-education student count.
Amounts that will be refunded to each school district range from $3,000 to Nottawa and $5,500 in Burr Oak, to nearly $59,000 to Three Rivers and $72,000 to Sturgis.
Under an agreement with local school districts, the ISD can maintain a 20 percent fund balance in its special-education account. At the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year, the account’s fund balance was 22 percent, entitling the local districts to divide the additional 2 percent.