Board approves three contracts to provide specialized special-education services as district struggles to hire SLPs and specialized teachers

The Fargo Board of Education voted on May 21 to authorize outside contracts for multiple specialized special-education services after administrators told the board persistent local staffing shortages left the district unable to fill some required positions.

Shelby, a district special-education administrator, presented three items: a proposed contract with Full Circle (named in the record alternatively as Full Circle Academy and Full Circle Pediatric Solutions) to staff a district Level C self-contained classroom at Lewis and Clark Elementary (memo 117), a separate Full Circle contract to provide clinic-based applied behavior analysis (ABA) services at Explorer Academy for K–5 students who had previously been placed outside the district (memo 118), and a proposal to continue contracting with AMN Allied Services LLC for speech-language pathology services (memo 116).

Why it matters: These services are required under students’ individualized education programs (IEPs). District leaders said they prefer hiring Fargo Public Schools employees but have repeatedly been unable to fill highly specialized roles and must balance legal obligations to provide services against the practical shortage of candidates.

What the board approved: After discussion about recruitment and compensation, the board approved the Full Circle contract for the Level C classroom (motion moved by Robin; seconded by Nikki) by a unanimous recorded vote (9–0). The board also approved the Full Circle ABA services contract for Explorer Academy by a 9–0 vote. The AMN Allied Services contract for speech-language services passed 8–1, with member Clark recorded as opposing the motion.

District justification and staffing context: Shelby told the board the district had run repeated unsuccessful local searches and has used request-for-proposal processes to secure providers for students who require Least-Restrictive-Environment (LRE) Level C and clinic-based ABA instruction.

On the cost and funding side, Shelby said the state provides ‘‘slightly over $10,000 of ADM per learner’’ and an additional weighted amount for special-education identification; she added districts may apply for high-cost disability reimbursement when services run many times the typical ADM allocation. Board members and administrators also discussed recent outlays: one board member cited $147,000 paid this year for contracted services as of last Wednesday; district staff later reported that contracted speech-language services totaled about $465,000 year-to-date as context for continued contracting.

Recruitment efforts and retention strategies: Board members and administrators described a multi-pronged approach: increasing stipends for special-education roles in previous years (a $6,000 recruitment supplement was later reduced), partnering with regional universities on a "grow-your-own" pipeline, using ESSER funds for retraining regular-education teachers to add special-education credentials, and pursuing grants and lab-school partnerships to expand teacher pipelines. Dr. McKenna said the district continues to prefer hiring Fargo Public Schools employees and will pursue that goal while using outside contracts as an interim solution.

Vendor vs. employee: Tara clarified that the contracts pay a vendor rather than an individual and that vendor billing includes overhead, so hourly comparisons to district staff salaries are not directly comparable.

Board action and next steps: The board voted to award the contracts and asked staff to continue recruitment and to return with updates. Administrators said they will continue posting positions, implementing retention measures, and using contracted staff as a bridge while the local pipeline expands.

Outcome: Memo 117 (Full Circle for Level C classroom) approved 9–0; memo 118 (Full Circle ABA services) approved 9–0; memo 116 (AMN Allied Services for SLPs) approved 8–1.