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Marshalltown board keeps in-house school-based therapists, approves one additional full-time position
Summary
Board heard a year of in-school therapy results showing reduced classroom behavior incidents and improved student coping skills, and voted 5-0 to add one school-based therapist for 2025–26 paid from special education funds.
Marshalltown Community School District trustees voted unanimously April 21 to add one full-time school-based therapist for the 2025–26 school year after hearing a year-long report on the district’s in-house therapy program and its early outcomes.
The board approved the addition as a motion during the meeting; the motion carried 5-0. Superintendent Theron Schutte confirmed the new position will be paid from special education funds.
The district hired three full-time therapists last August to provide individual and group therapy, crisis response, classroom consultation, and weekly clinical supervision through Community Support Advocates. Presenters told the board the therapists served 53 students in individual therapy this school year and additionally supported group sessions and classroom-level behavior improvements.
"Being on-site has allowed more opportunities for us to provide real time modeling of the therapeutic strategies and consistency of applying tools and interventions that we discuss in our therapy sessions," said one school-based therapist during the presentation. Staff and administrators described increases in students using coping strategies, better peer interactions and fewer disruptive incidents in classrooms where therapists were active.
District staff also described case transfers and progress: two students moved from the Therapeutic Classroom to Linehan and one student moved from the Therapeutic Classroom to Franklin, with staff reporting successful transitions to date.
The therapists described their intake criteria: students already identified for special education who have behavior goals in their IEP and a mental health diagnosis were prioritized. Clinical supervision is provided by Community Support Advocates; board materials note the district believes it may be the only Iowa district currently employing therapists in this direct, embedded capacity to this extent.
Board discussion included questions about caseloads and broader regional access to providers. Presenters said an agency caseload typically runs about 30 clients a week; the district started with smaller caseloads to grow the program carefully. Presenters and board members also noted that statewide shortages of licensed mental health providers remain a challenge for schools seeking outside contractors.
The board resolution instructs district administrators to add the position for 2025–26 and to fund it from special education resources, with staff returning with hiring details and budget placement.
The action follows an earlier motion to hire the three initial therapists last year and continues the district’s plan to expand clinical support vertically and, eventually, horizontally to other grade levels as capacity and outcomes permit.
The presentation and vote were part of the consent and action agenda during the regular board meeting on April 21, 2025. The district said it will continue to develop transition plans and parent trainings over the summer to support continuity of care.
