Marblehead trying to keep costs down for in-house schooling

MARBLEHEAD – Director of Student Services Robert Bellucci turns briefly into an accountant every year when he shares a 55-page report filled with numbers with the School Committee and tells them while localized special education costs the town money his in-house programs keep those costs to a minimum.Bellucci?s 29 in-house programs, some as old as 16 years, educate 280 students in kindergarten-Grade 12, including 14 out-of-town students whose communities pay the town tuition.This year Bellucci?s report pegs the total cost at $2.8 million after tuition and grant money is subtracted n but he points out that it would cost the town $8.1 million to send just 125 students to out-of-town placements.One example is Bellucci?s language-based program, which is educating nine students this year, including one tuition student. No grants were available for the program this year, but the $30,000 tuition lowers the $109,000 cost for a full-time teacher, tutor and paraprofessional, along with the part-time services of a social worker and speech specialist, to $79,000.?It is more cost-effective to invest (money) to educate students in-district,” Bellucci said.