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Albany County okays inter-district agreements for preschool evaluations; staff flag speech-therapy shortages
Summary
The board authorized agreements with Albany County school districts for preschool evaluation services. Staff said the evaluation team handled more than 800 children last year, average wait for an evaluation is about 30 days, and speech therapy capacity is limited.
Albany County commissioners approved agreements with county school districts to provide preschool evaluation services intended to identify children ages 3 to 5 who require early special-education services.
Clerk (S1) introduced the item and Miss Martin, the county program staffer, explained that school districts identify eligible children and approve individualized education plans that trigger services. "So we I have to work with the school districts because they're the ones who identify the children age 3 to 5 and approve the IEP plan," Miss Martin said. She added that evaluation capacity is stretched: "I think in the evaluation team last year, it was over 800."
During discussion the chair (S3) questioned the program's scale and referenced a budget figure, noting "21,000,000." Miss Martin said evaluations are generally scheduled within about 30 days and that speech therapy is the primary service with capacity constraints, while occupational and physical therapy have better availability.
The board approved the item by voice vote. The transcript does not include a line-item budget breakdown for this specific agreement in the record provided; staff offered to provide further breakout information on request.
