Board approves contract for special-education services at $750 per IEP

The Scobey K-12 Schools board approved contracting a provider to deliver special-education services for the 2025–26 school year at a rate discussed in the meeting of $750 per Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Board discussion framed the hire as a way to ensure thorough evaluations and IEP meetings and to reduce the district’s legal exposure on special-education compliance. One trustee said the contractor would perform a full evaluation, develop the IEP and attend meetings — duties described as more extensive than prior arrangements — and argued the cost was lower than the potential expense of losing a legal dispute.

A motion to hire the provider and to authorize a contract at the stated $750-per-IEP rate was made, seconded and approved by verbal vote. Trustees asked staff to monitor the district’s internal staffing so the contracted arrangement would not become a permanent outsourcing necessity if in-house capacity can be rebuilt.

The board also handled routine business: it set graduation for May 16, 2026; approved updates to the substitute list (Grace Williams) pending background checks; approved volunteer chaperones and work-study participants conditional on background checks; and confirmed a slate of assistant and junior-high coaches for the 2025–26 school year.

In separate discussion the board reviewed an approximate $189,000 quote for a replacement 54-passenger diesel bus and described recent facility issues with fire-alarm monitoring after a vendor acquisition; staff said the district planned local inspections and estimated a one-time monitoring-install cost around $1,800 and an annual monitoring fee described in the meeting as about $860 compared with a much lower prior charge.