February 9, 2026 | Tobey Duble Moore

An Analysis of Special Education Outplacement in Connecticut

Researchers with the Neag School’s Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation prepared the following research brief regarding special education outplacement in Connecticut

Female educator works with young male student at a desk.

New research from UConn’s Neag School of Education examines special education outplacement in Connecticut and underscores the importance of investing in high-quality, inclusive programming within local districts to better support students with disabilities. (Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)

Editor’s Note: Tobey Duble Moore prepared the following research brief (unabridged version) with the Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE). The full brief examines special education outplacement in Connecticut. Below is an executive summary.

Inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms is a practice engrained in the modern education system and is legally supported under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). However, many schools do not have the capacity to support students with intensive needs. When a student’s behavioral or educational needs cannot be met within a Local Education Agency (LEA), students are sometimes placed in a separate school setting – a practice known as outplacement. Outplacement is used relatively frequently in the state of Connecticut. Connecticut educates the second-highest percentage (6.3%) of its students in “separate schools,” defined as “an educational environment that includes less than 50% children without disabilities” (U.S. Department of Education, 2024).

Outplacement schools can provide supports that are unavailable in the student’s LEA, such as specially trained staff or specialized environments. However, outplacements provide limited opportunities for inclusion, and some have been found to have less rigorous goals, to over-rely on restraint and seclusion, and to exacerbate inappropriate behavior in at-risk students (Office of the Child Advocate & Disability Rights Connecticut, 2024; Powers et al., 2016).

While specialized placements may be appropriate for some students … the state must invest in high-quality district programming so students with disabilities can access inclusive environments and reduce unnecessary, costly outplacements. — Tobey Duble Moore

Outplacing students is burdensome to LEAs. Tuition varies greatly based on the student and program. In one district, these costs ranged from $24,158 per year for one student to $219,004 per year for another (Vernon Public Schools, 2024). Transportation is another large cost, averaging about $25,000 per student per year. Total annual outplacement costs can vary greatly based on fluctuating district populations, making it hard for LEAs to effectively budget for outplacements (Meriden Public Schools, 2025).

Educating students with disabilities in their local schools is also costly. Case studies in Connecticut show that LEAs must invest in services such as specialized employees, buildings to house specialized programs, assistive technology, transportation, professional development, and administrative costs. In Meriden, annual staffing investments for students in specialized programs cost $1.2 million. However, the benefit often outweighs the cost, with Meriden saving over $2 million by enrolling students in their specially designed programs instead of outplacing them (Meriden Public Schools, 2025).

Investment in preventative, evidence-based practices can help increase the ability of LEAs to proactively develop effective supports in inclusive settings instead of reactively paying to outplace students whom they are unable to serve. These cost-effective recommendations for practice are included below:

  • Early intervention services, primarily for students with autism and other similar disabilities, occur before children reach preschool age, are based in the theory of behaviorism, and target skills such as communication, social-emotional skills, and daily living skills (Cooper, 2022).
  • For students with a wide range of intensive needs, a holistic model is comprehensive student support. This model addresses a broad range of student needs including social services, physical and mental health, parent education, and academic support and is coordinated by a community or school-based representative who organizes the diverse systems needed to support high-needs students (City Connects, 2025).
  • Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, multi-tiered framework that can be used to improve a school’s overall provision of behavior management. PBIS provides a cost-effective framework to develop effective supports that help decrease student behaviors that interfere with learning (Bradshaw, et al., 2020; Putnam et al., 2002).

Supporting students with intensive, individualized needs is complex, especially in Connecticut, where many small districts and a few high-needs, urban districts often struggle to provide in-district supports for students with complex needs. While specialized placements may be appropriate for some students with highly intensive needs, it is critical that both LEAs and the state invest proactively in high-quality programming within each district to ensure that students with disabilities can access an inclusive environment whenever possible to reduce the need for unnecessarily costly, unpredictable, and restrictive outplacements.

CEPARE produces high-quality research, evaluation, and policy analysis that informs leaders and policymakers on a range of pressing issues, with a particular focus on enhancing social justice and equity across p-20 educational settings in Connecticut and beyond. Learn more about CEPARE, or access the PDF version of this rapid research brief (including all references and appendices), at cepare.uconn.edu. 

Tobey Duble Moore Tobey Duble Moore is a Ph.D. candidate in the Educational Psychology department at UConn’s Neag School of Education. Prior to UConn, she earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard University, and her master’s degree in intellectual disabilities and autism from Teachers College at Columbia University. Tobey has over 15 years of experience in the field of special education, having worked in various settings as a teacher, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), and behavioral consultant. In these roles, she worked with students at the Tier 3 level, providing individualized behavior support and school- and district-level technical assistance in classroom management and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). She also worked as an intern at the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the Education Department. Her research interests include Tier 3 behavioral systems, implementation of integrated MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Support), and education policy and much of her current research focuses on how federal and state policy and district systems can improve the technical adequacy of function-based supports in schools.