Oxford School District seeks feedback on special education budget

Oxford School District asked for feedback on its proposed special education budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, putting one of the district’s most sensitive service areas under a public spotlight. The district posted the notice on May 26, 2026, and said the feedback survey is now closed.

For Oxford families, the issue reaches far beyond bookkeeping. Special education dollars determine how many staff members are available, how much individualized instruction students receive, whether therapy services are steady, and how well classrooms can support students with disabilities across Oxford High School, Oxford Middle School and the district’s other campuses.

The district says its Department of Special Education is committed to providing a free appropriate public education, or FAPE, to students with disabilities ages 3 to 21. It also says it uses a wide range of placement and programming options throughout the district, which makes the budget a direct test of whether those services can be maintained at current levels or expanded where needs are growing.

Oxford’s special education staff includes Toni Bell as director, Cynthia Bigham as assistant director, Kimberly Doolittle as case manager and Helen Hale as psychometrist. Melissa Perkins serves as transition assistant for students with disabilities ages 14 to 21, a role tied to planning for life after high school. For families, those names matter because the budget will affect the people who evaluate students, coordinate services and help guide transition planning.

The district’s own annual budget materials say Oxford aims to maximize the return on the public’s investment by aligning spending with its mission statement and strategic plan, and by distributing resources equitably. In special education, that language carries practical weight: parents will want to know whether money is being directed toward more staff time, stronger classroom supports, updated materials, evaluation capacity or transportation that gets students to the services they need.

Oxford’s Child Find information also underscores why the budget matters. Child Find is the federal process for identifying, evaluating and locating children who may need special education or early intervention services. In a district that served 4,790 students in seven schools during the 2024 school year, any shift in staffing or funding can affect how quickly students are identified and how consistently services are delivered.

The larger state funding picture adds more pressure. The Mississippi Department of Education says its budget totals more than $3 billion and includes money sent to public schools, while Mississippi legislative budget materials show special education funding being handled as a separate line item beginning with fiscal year 2026. That makes Oxford’s local decisions even more important, because the district has to balance its own priorities inside a changing state framework.

For Lafayette County families, the real measure of the proposal is simple: whether it preserves the support students already rely on, or whether it leaves gaps that parents and teachers will have to absorb in the year ahead.