Montville — Most of the increase in the Montville school budget next year will go toward tuition costs for students placed in special education programs or magnet schools, according to Superintendent Brian Levesque.

The increase was necessary because of an “inordinate number” of students moving into the district who have been placed in magnet schools or private education programs.

The school board met a $260,000 shortfall for tuition due to that influx by transferring thousands of dollars in unused money from the district’s gasoline, heating oil and electricity lines.

The district saved money on those items but needed to use the extra money to cover the tuition for more than 40 Montville students who attend schools outside the town’s public district, Levesque said.

Levesque said his office is trying to anticipate even higher tuition costs next year by requesting a more than $600,000 increase in special education tuition costs.

The total increase over last year’s budget that Leveque requested was about $700,000, leaving about $100,000 in his budget for all other cost increases besides tuition.

“The number this year is unusually high for us,” he said.

A Montville student is assigned to a local magnet school or specialized education program when parents, or their lawyers, can prove that the Montville district doesn’t meet the child’s educational needs, Levesque said.

The negotiations can often become contentious and lead to high legal costs for the district if they go to arbitration, he said.

This year, the district will pay $71,000 to the Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut for eight Montville students who attend it, and $25,000 for two students at the Dual Language & Arts Magnet Middle School in Waterford, Levesque said.

Montville students also attend school at the private Waterford Country School, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, the Bradley School and several other institutions.

While Montville normally accommodates a smaller number of students with special education needs than other local districts, the number has increased, Levesque said.

“I wouldn’t say we are out of line with other districts,” he said. “But we certainly have had an uptick.”

Some of the students have moved into Montville in the past year, and some have lived in Montville their whole lives and only recently received diagnoses or individualized education program plans, Levesque said.

In either case, the out-of-district placements are required by law, he said.

“Those are funds we have to pay for,” he said.

The board voted to send layoff notices to an elementary library media teacher, physical education teacher and music teacher who may become part-time employees after a $425,000 cut that Mayor Ronald McDaniel proposed in his budget on April 11.

McDaniel's proposed cut, and the prospect of losing more than $500,000 in Education Cost Sharing grants from the statewide budget, prompted the cuts.

Levesque has warned that more likely are coming.

The Town Council’s Finance Committee is considering the school board budget along with the town’s operating budget, and the council likely will schedule a vote this month.

m.shanahan@theday.com