Queen Anne's County board approves special education staffing plan and contracts for related services

The Queen Anne's County Board of Education approved its required special education staffing plan for the 2025–26 school year and voted to award several contracts to cover specialized services that the district says it cannot staff in-house.

Jolene Smith, supervisor of special education, told the board the staffing plan — required under COMAR and MSDE rules — is intended to ensure students with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. Smith said the district provides services for ages birth through 21, partners with Chesapeake College on a PATH program for 18–21-year-olds, and relies on the Midshore Special Education Consortium for related services such as occupational and physical therapy and vision/hearing supports. “The special education staffing plan is required per COMAR as well as MSDE,” Smith said.

Smith presented enrollment figures and staffing proposals. She reported the district served 176 children in the infants-and-toddlers program in the last July–June year (up from 158) and identified 882 students with disabilities in the district. For FY26 the district proposed 48 special educators, nine IEP chairpersons, and related-service allocations (including three preschool and three ACE special educators). Smith said some small changes — for example reducing IEP chair positions where a shared model works — were made to balance caseloads and program needs.

Because some services are difficult to recruit for locally, the board also approved contracts to purchase services from outside providers: Williams Organization LLC for one occupational therapist ($101,175), Chesapeake Speech for two speech-language providers ($156,840), Pediatric Development Services for a speech-language pathologist ($126,350) and a limited contract with Salient for a temporary school psychologist to cover an FMLA vacancy ($52,500). Smith and other staff explained that the Midshore consortium provides many related services but the county covers additional positions to meet local demands and equity across partner districts. “There’s just not enough people out there,” Smith said of providers such as SLPs and occupational therapists.

All contracts were described as budgeted for FY26 and funded through combinations of restricted and unrestricted operating budgets or the FY26 CIP (as noted in staff memos). The motions to approve the staffing plan and the contracts passed without recorded roll-call tallies in the public transcript; the board indicated unanimous voice approval with “Aye.”

Next steps: the staffing plan and contracts will be carried out in FY26; staff said caseloads and deployment will be reviewed annually and adjusted if enrollment or service needs change.