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Board approves $8 million ceiling for special-education service contracts for 2025–26
Summary
Johnston County Board of Education approved continuing contracts for outside providers to supply speech, nursing, behavior, vision and vocational services for students with disabilities for the 2025–26 school year. The board approved contracting with multiple vendors after a presentation from the Exceptional Children department.
The Johnston County Board of Education on June 10 approved contracts to provide special-education services — including speech-language therapy, 1-to-1 nursing, behavior supports, vision and hearing services, and vocational job-coach placements — for the 2025–26 school year.
Assistant Superintendent for Exceptional Children (EC) Jim McKenna told the board the district issued requests for proposals for seven categories of services and recommended vendors based on the proposals. McKenna said speech-language services represent the largest single dollar category because speech-language pathologists (SLPs) perform evaluations and direct instruction that feed Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
The EC presentation said the district’s speech program currently totals about 73 SLPs (roughly 70 full-time equivalents), of which 14 are district employees and 59 are contractors. McKenna said a snapshot taken the prior week showed just over 2,500 students receiving speech services (about 6.7% of enrolled students) and that 776 students were listed as “speech impaired” only. She said evaluations conducted by SLPs during the school year numbered in the thousands and that additional evaluations would occur over the summer.
Board members were told the two recommended firms for speech services are Kinetic Pediatric Therapy and Venture Rehabilitation Group; Venture offered a lower hourly rate in the RFP, and the district requested contracts with both firms while keeping the total speech budget at the current year’s level. McKenna recommended continued contracts with Maxim Healthcare Services, Team Select Professional Healthcare Inc., and BAYADA for nursing; American Sign Language, Inc., for interpreting; Positive Behavior Supports Corporation for behavior supports; Equalize Sensory Services and Sonya Mahmood for vision services with an additional contract recommended for Dragonfly Vision; Envision Services and Equalize Sensory Services to cover teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing vacancies; and continued vocational services with Johnston County Industries (JCI) to provide job coaches.
Board members asked for clarifications about the number of students receiving services, whether ESY (extended school year) and compensatory services were included, and the reasons for using contracted vendors rather than district hires for specialized roles such as teachers of the visually impaired. McKenna said ESY services run July 1–June 30 under contract terms and that compensatory services had been provided in some cases when staff shortages required contractors; she said some specialized positions are difficult to recruit to full-time district posts and that contractors fill critical gaps.
After brief questions, a motion to approve the EC contracts carried. The board recorded the motion by Mr. Carroll, second by Mr. Sullivan, and the chair called the ayes. The board vote approved the contracts for 2025–26.
