Norfork board discusses special‑education costs, speech services and facility options

Members of the Norfork School District board discussed the district’s special‑education service costs and possible local solutions for speech and therapy space.

A staff member said the district spent about $163,000 on special‑education services (occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech) and reported billing roughly $16,000 for those services, leaving a large out‑of‑pocket cost to the district. To reduce costs and improve scheduling, the speaker described a proposal to hire a half‑time speech employee who could be on staff (and thus enable more predictable scheduling) while billing Medicaid or other payers for covered services.

Board members also discussed physical space for speech therapy. The district owns a building behind the cafeteria; the board considered repurposing that building or obtaining a 10‑by‑20 modular/metal unit. One participant gave a rough cost outline: moving/installation costs, a concrete pad and HVAC (mini‑split) could raise the total beyond the purchase price. The speaker said a 200‑square‑foot unit would cost about $7,500 for placement and about $14,000 after adding air conditioning and related work (transcript contained rough, informal estimates).

The discussion also addressed contract clauses with the current speech provider (a multi‑year contract with presumed exit language) and the tradeoffs of contracting versus hiring to improve billing and scheduling flexibility. No formal motion to change speech service contracts or purchase a modular unit was recorded at the meeting.