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Board reviews and approves special-education and instructional service contracts
Summary
The board heard staff explain multiple contracts supporting special education, speech/therapy, orientation and mobility, transition-to-work placements, and Title I instructional coaches; staff said some services are contracted because the district lacks in-house certified specialists.
District instruction and special-education staff presented a series of contracts the board reviewed for support services across the county.
Staff explained contracts that cover: orientation and mobility services for fewer than 10 students requiring certification beyond district visually-impaired teachers; Developmental Therapy Center contracts for occupational and physical therapy and supplemental speech services (the district reported being three speech positions short); a contract with Marshall University's speech and hearing center (which will provide fewer therapist hours this year than expected); job-coach and transition-to-work placements (including worksite partnerships with Goodwill that supplement student wages); and a multi-year arrangement with Riverside for Woodcock-Johnson achievement testing (structured over three years to spread cost). Several contracts were described as IEP-led services.
Board members asked whether the district is actively recruiting for speech therapists; staff said they are posting positions and working with Marshall University and other contracted firms to reach graduates. For the Riverside testing contract, staff said Riverside is the only provider for the specific Woodcock-Johnson instrument and outlined options the board considered for multi-year payment.
The board approved the consent agenda containing these contract items; no board member requested separate tabling of the contracts during the meeting.
