Santa Rosa City Schools will form its own special education program, leaving the Sonoma County Special Education Local Plan Area.
Officials say rising costs and a new county funding formula were projected to create a three-point-four-million-dollar annual loss, while the new arrangement is expected to bring a 600-thousand-dollar net gain.
The district will now control funding and programming for roughly 26-hundred special education students, about 20-percent of its student body.
Board President Nick Caston called the move necessary amid ongoing fiscal challenges, including previous layoffs and campus closures.
