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Colchester Public Schools - Budget Questions 2021-2022
Budget Workshop -3/16/2021
1. Registered Behavioral Therapist. Is this position part-time or full time? How will this position be
utilized?Is the position ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) or PBS (Positive Behavioral Support)?
This is a full-time position. The Registered Behavior Technician is a paraprofessional who practices
under the close, ongoing supervision of the district’s Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). The
RBT will implement individualized behavioral and skill acquisition programs that have been designed
through the collaborative efforts of the BCBA and the student’s school based team. These programs can
include discrete trial instruction for students on the autism spectrum or positive behavioral support
programs for students with social-emotional needs. This individual is responsible for maintaining their
RBT Certification outlined by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). Registered Behavior
Technicians are certified to perform tasks that are organized into the following primary content areas:
Measurement, Assessment, Skill Acquisition, Behavior Reduction, Documentation and Reporting, and
Professional Conduct and Scope of Practices. These tasks include, but are not limited to conducting
functional assessment procedures, conducting preference assessments, implementing and training staff on
a variety of data collection procedures, implementing continuous and discontinuous measurement
procedures, implementing discrete-trial teaching procedures, implementing incidental teaching
procedures, implementing fading procedures, compiling data, implementing individualized treatment
plans, compiling session notes of student progress, and serving as a resource to staff and families.
2. For the out of district special education placements, can you outline exactly how many students
make-up this increase? Is this due to students who have moved into the district, changes in placements
in district etc.?.
The increase in tuition (public) is due to students who moved into the district with an out of district
placement during the summer as well as those students who required out of district placements after the
budget process was completed. The district had three students move into the district with out of district
placements (1 private and 2 public). In total seven students account for the increase in tuition and special
education services.
For the upcoming school year, three students are returning to Colchester from out of district placements
(one to Bacon Academy and two to CTAC. Next year, three additional students will be attending CTAC.
These three students would have historically been placed in out of district transition programs. These six
students would conservatively cost the district $300,000 if the district was unable to provide a program
for them within Colchester.
3. How many Norwich students do we have enrolled? Did this increase or decrease with the COVID
year? What is the total tuition we receive from Norwich? Did that go up or down since last year?
As of now, we are aware of 25 Norwich students that will be charged tuition for this school year, but this
number can change month to month. This number is in alignment with past enrollment and we did not
see a reduction that could be attributed to COVID19. In FY 19/20, we received just over $424,000 based
on the tiered level billing in place at that time.
4. SRO Officer - What are the reasons this position is being eliminated? What conversations did you have
to make this decision?
The School Resource Officer position was eliminated as it was determined by administration that it was
not meeting the needs of the district and was identified as an area of savings in the budget proposal.
Reasons include that the district does not play a role in the selection process or training of the SRO, one
SRO cannot cover all buildings, additional security measures have been introduced in all buildings, and
the CPD and state police barracks are in very close proximity of the schools. Discussions were held with
school administrators and the first selectman on the viability of this position moving forward.
5. BRICK program a Bacon Academy - Please give a little more detail on the importance of this program,
what it entails and why BA admin team feel it is needed.
This new program will be very important to support the 10-15 students in the building each year that are
becoming disenfranchised with school, and don’t find anything they can connect with in school. They
could be struggling with peer relations, staff relations, a history of failure catching up to them, a lack of
goals and future plans, personal struggles in their family, or even mild drug use. This program would
give them a homebase, a safe space, to help them process their feelings, create and visualize their plan for
success both in school and beyond graduation, learn how to effectively resolve personal issues with peers
or staff, and feel heard and supported. The goal of this program is to help these students turn their path
around before they become too detached and frustrated with school.