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District outlines special-education staffing gaps and recruitment options

South Portland Board of Education · April 13, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

District staff presented an update on special-education staffing: the embedded occupational-therapy model, a projected 3.8 OTs in the coming year, EdTech shortages, and steps the district will explore (referral incentives, job-platform outreach and vetted agency partnerships).

District instructional staff told the board the special-education program is strained by staffing shortages and the board discussed recruitment strategies and trade-offs.

"The change now would leave us with 3.8 OTs in the district," Kat Cox, director of instructional support, said while explaining the embedded occupational-therapy model that the district adopted near the end of the COVID era to increase coverage…

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