Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Pupil Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lakeland District considers placing pupil‑services staff on certified pay scale to reduce contracting costs
Summary
Board and staff discussed creating an explicit placement on the certified salary schedule for non‑counselor pupil‑services staff (speech, occupational, physical therapists) so the district can hire rather than contract them and capture state/Medicaid reimbursement; staff proposed inserting House Bill 728’s definition into the negotiated agreement draft.
District staff and board members discussed whether to place certain pupil‑services staff (speech‑language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and other positions that require a master’s or a pupil‑personnel certificate) on the certified salary schedule to make hiring those roles more feasible and reduce reliance on higher‑cost contracted services.
Staff noted that contracting rates for these services can be substantially higher (bids cited in the transcript ranged from roughly $90 to $140 per hour) and that bringing these roles in‑house, with appropriate minimum placement on the career ladder, can both improve continuity of services and increase the district’s ability to bill Medicaid/Medicare for eligible work.
To reduce ambiguity, staff proposed adding the verbatim definition of "pupil service staff" from House Bill 728 to the negotiated‑agreement draft; the staff member said that addition would also include school nurses who hold the required certificate. Board members asked staff to write draft language and identify which specific positions the language would apply to, and staff agreed to return with a concrete wording and placement on the salary schedule at the next meeting.
No formal action was taken; staff will draft proposed language to include in the working negotiated‑agreement draft and present it at the next session.
