The placement of school-age students with severe disabilities at Fircrest School in Shoreline continues to be controversial and a continual finanical problem for the Shoreline School District.

"It is a serious concern for this school district because of our size and the increasing number of residents at Fircrest. It could quickly become out of control," Shoreline School District Superintendent Sue Walker said.

The number of school-age students at Fircrest has grown significantly from a only a few to 25 in the last six years, according to a district chart (at right, which shows 24, one more has been added).

A new bill introduced by 32nd District State Reps. Ruth Kagi and Cindy Ryu aims to provide a temporary fix to Fircrest, a state-run RHC (Residential Habilitation Center).

House Bill 2720 would prioritize safety net funding for residential schools served by school districts like Shoreline, who are not fully reimbursed through the normal special education funding formula by the Department of Social and Health Services.

Most of the 25 school-age students, up to age 21, who live at Fircrest suffer from autism and other disabilities and only one lived in Shoreline before coming to Fircrest. That student will turn 21 next week and he will "age-out" of the program.

When students move to Fircrest, Shoreline School District absorbs the responsibility for the educational needs of that student, and other districts no longer have financial or educational responsiblity. 

"That falls entirely to us," Walker said.

The district estimates that it will cost $1.1 million this school year to educate all 25 students at Fircrest, and that's if the numbers don't increase. The costs change each year. In 2009-10, the district's costs were $72,000 per student; in 2010-11 their costs fell to $53,000.

"We don't know what the costs will be this year," Walker said. "It's depending on the students needs, and the behavorial aides that are required. It's a variable for us."

Since 2008, Shoreline's reimbursement from the state has fallen $500,000 short, Walker said, and the district has had to dip into its general fund to make up the difference. In 2010-11 the district was fully reimbursed by the state but not the previous two years.

In addition, behavorial aides who work with students at Fircrest have been injured on the job, and those incidents have resulted in Labor and Industries claims that the district has and will have to pay. Up to $250,000 in the last three years for L&I claims can become "pretty overwhelming for a school district our size," Walker said. 

She hopes the safety net money covers those costs, but it depends on how much is there, what the costs are, how many new students come to program. Also the district will have to submit its claims for money under the safety net in March, and all the costs may not be known by then, given that the district's fiscal year doesn't end until August. 

On July 1, a new state law kicks in, which will only allow students 16 and older to be placed at Fircrest. The point of the law is not to institutionalize younger children. Walker said she expects some students to be moved there before the deadline. A couple recent school-age students placed at Fircrest came from jail. Many RHCs are closing throughout the state and more may close this year, which could mean more residents coming to Fircrest.

Walker would like to see a Local Educational Agency formed and funded by the state, to serve students who are sent to Fircrest. It would operate like the state's School for the Deaf and School for the Blind, or like juvenile jails where the state provides educational programming.

"They could use any of those models," Walker said. "If Fircrest was on its own is would be reponsible for education. It still could be contracted with the district or not."

The difference is that the state would pay fully for the costs of the program.

A Local Education Agency is a possible solution, Kagi said, but said, "the drafting involved in that is extremely complex and this is short session."

The latest proposed bill is an attempt to flush things out in the interim, Kagi said, but admits it won't address the fundamental issues at Fircrest.

"My goal has always been that Shoreline has always been reiumbursed and last year they were, it's the year before that they were not," Kagi said. "It's a very complex funding picture which has been the challenge in sorting through this."

Last year, a Kagi bill to address the Fircrest funding issue passed the House but Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, of the neighboring 1st Legislative District, didn't allow it out of the Senate Education Committee and it died. 

In terms of the placement issue at Fircrest, Walker said, "some kids placed there don't need to be, some kids placed there are incredibly violent and that's inappropriate."

Placement in group homes out in the community is a better option for some students, Walker said. 

"Our job is to give them as much stability and a home setting so they can thrive and have a better life," said Dr. Asha Singh, superintendent at Fircrest.

The program engages students in age-appropriate activities, based on their interest level, development level and cognitive level depending on their needs, Singh said. 

"We would like to see more children be educated at the mainstream campus, the high school campuses, rather than our Fircrest campus, incorporated with individuals of a similar age, in an integrated setting, rather than being segregated here at Fircrest," Singh said.