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Presenter tells Benton County board many students may be missing needed occupational therapy
Summary
An OT student told the Benton County Board of Education that only a small fraction of students who could benefit from school-based occupational therapy receive it; the board discussed delivery models, billing through TennCare, and possible budget implications.
Cindy Baker, an occupational therapy student presenting her capstone to the Benton County Board of Education on March 5, told trustees the district may be "severely underutilizing" school-based occupational therapy (OT).
Baker said Benton County has 165 students with 504 plans and about 662 students who may benefit from OT; she reported roughly 43 of those 662 students currently receive OT services, a share she calculated at about 6 percent. Baker said students in the district who receive OT at school typically get therapy "about 3 times per year," far less than outpatient schedules.
"OT is a big misconception that OTs only do handwriting in the school because there's so much more that they're able to do," Baker told the board, listing supports such as handwriting, classroom setup, sensory regulation and behavior management.
Baker said she had surveyed teachers and observed classrooms. She told trustees teachers pause to manage behavior on average about 9.36 times per 45-minute session and cited a teacher survey showing 70.6 percent "strongly agree" that behavioral difficulties affect classmates' ability to learn.
Baker outlined potential funding options, including using federal IDEA funds tied to students with IEPs and billing TennCare (Tennessee's Medicaid program) where eligible. She also told trustees the district already uses a contract with the Therapy and Learning Center for some services and that neighboring rural districts reported having school-based OTs who see students at least once per week.
Director of Schools Mr. Florence and other board members asked whether the district employs licensed OTs. Florence said the district uses contracted services and that school assistants perform many PT/OT-type activities but are not licensed therapists. "Our assistants do do that with them so I didn't want you to leave here and say because I think about okay it's not as good as a licensed person," Florence said, adding that placing licensed OTs in schools would be a budget decision.
Trustees asked about typical service frequency, whether interventions should be pushed into classrooms, and how billing and space constraints would be handled. Baker recommended pushing services into students' natural environments when possible and noted a lack of dedicated space in some schools for therapy sessions.
The presentation closed with a SWOT analysis noting existing strengths (speech, ABA, supports), opportunities (Medicaid billing, contract partners) and threats (students falling behind, teacher burnout and potential legal challenges if IEPs/needs are not addressed).
The board did not take formal action on OT services at the meeting; members indicated the topic should be considered during upcoming budget discussions.
The Benton County Board of Education holds its next regular meeting on May 5 at 6 p.m. in the support center.
