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Student support seeks contract renewals with evaluation vendors as district addresses backlog and staffing shortfalls
Summary
The student support services committee recommended renewing professional services agreements with two contracted evaluators (Crush Evaluations and Pear Inc.) after high referral volumes and a backlog in psychoeducational evaluations; staff also outlined hiring plans to increase in‑house psychologists and educational diagnosticians.
Cumberland County Schools’ student support services committee recommended renewing professional services agreements with two contracted evaluation agencies — Crush Evaluations and Pear Inc. — to help reduce a backlog of psychoeducational assessments while the district hires additional in‑house staff.
Staff said the two vendors worked with the district the prior year: Crush completed 149 evaluations at a cost of $109,901 and Pear completed 146 evaluations at $115,300 for the previous year. The contracts requested are for the 2025–26 school year on a renewal basis. District staff described a large number of referrals overall: roughly 1,965 referrals in the prior period, with about 1,600 full evaluations completed plus additional re-evaluations. The district reported approximately 250 evaluations already in the queue for the new school year.
Staff described a shortage of licensed school psychologists: the district has budgeted for 32.5 psychologist positions but currently had 18 on staff and anticipated dropping to 16 in September, while actively recruiting and hoping to hire more. The district is hiring five educational diagnosticians to support evaluations and the referral process so that psychologists can focus on evaluations and eligibility determinations.
Board members asked about referral criteria and whether teachers and student services teams complete sufficient progress‑monitoring data before referring a student for evaluation. Staff described the district’s multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) and an identified IE block in the schedule to allow teachers time for progress monitoring and interventions; referrals begin with the classroom team and escalate if data indicate inadequate progress, which starts the 90‑day evaluation timeline under federal/state processes.
The committee moved to approve the two professional services agreements to help address the backlog and to supplement district capacity while additional hires are onboarded.
