Border Belt Independent

Bladen County school officials said in January the district would need an additional $1 million to educate students with disabilities last school year. Cheryl White-Smith, the district’s inclusive education director, told school board members the number of students in the exceptional children’s program increased by more than 100 over the last decade. Meanwhile, she said, the costs of providing occupational, speech and other therapies have skyrocketed. Local Superintendent Jason Atkinson blamed the deficit on the way North Carolina funds exceptional children’s programs. The state pays $5,309 per student enrolled in the services, but limits funding to 13% of a district’s total student population. If the number of students exceeds that cap, the district has to pay the difference. Across the state, 102 of the 115 public school districts exceed the cap, according to data from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. In Bladen County Schools, 17% of students were enrolled in exceptional children’s services last school year. “This is a systemic issue,” Atkinson said during the school board meeting in January. “Most districts are dealing with the same issues we are.” Many district leaders and public school advocates had hoped the General Assembly would lift the funding cap when it passed a long-awaited state budget this summer. But lawmakers kept it in place while touting other education spending, including 8% average teacher raises over the next two years…