NEWINGTON - The Newington school district will be hiring its own behavior analyst to help students with autism.

       The district currently provides that type of support, but has been contracting out. The change is expected to save around $50,000, according to Superintendent of Schools Bill Collins.

       The Board got the go-ahead through a unanimous vote from the Town Council at the June 9 Council meeting--a night before Collins and district staff sat down with finalists for the position. The proposal first came to the Council at its previous meeting.

       â€�"The classification of autism has changed,” Collins said at the June 9 Council meeting. â€�"It’s expanded.”

       And the district is legally obligated to provide students that have those needs with a behavior analyst, he said. That’s something it has been doing, but it’s becoming more expensive, he said.

       â€�"The cost has risen to the point where it’s more beneficial for us to do it in-house,” Collins said.

       And as costs go up, state reimbursement for the out-placement of special education students is not, Collins said. The state is supposed to fully reimburse the district for special education costs that are four and a half times its regular per-pupil expenditure, but Newington has only been getting 70 percent back in recent years, according to Collins.

       Contracting out to CREC was costing the district $420,000, according to a May 21 letter from Director of Human Capital Development Stephen Foresi to Town Manager John Salomone.

       Collins said that the projected $50,000 in savings was an estimated average--it can be anywhere between $30,000 and $80,000, depending on how well the district is reimbursed in the near future, he said.

       â€�"Even at that [$50,000], it’s a good savings,” he said. â€�"As we get more kids, it’ll be more, because we won’t have to contract out.”

       And as other districts look to comply with their statutory obligations, those positions will become harder to fill, said Dena Tompkins, Director of Student Services for Newington Schools.

       â€�"Every district in the state is going to be fighting for these people,” Tompkins said at the meeting. â€�"We want to make sure we get a handle on it now.”

       Councilor Beth DelBuono, who works as a speech therapist for CREC, says she can relate.

       â€�"In my district we have to fight tooth and nail for that kind of support,” DelBuono said. â€�"It’s not easy to come by.”

       The behavior analyst trains other school staff in how to accommodate the learning needs of students that fall on the autism spectrum. That includes assisting with the development of curriculum specific to an individual student, as well as providing support to parents.