A Superintendent's Guide to IDEA Staffing

IDEA Part B in brief

IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, is the federal special education law. Part B covers children from age 3 through 21, with some state variation at either end. Three terms drive staffing:

• FAPE, a free appropriate public education: special education and related services at public expense and no cost to parents, meeting state standards and following the student's IEP (34 CFR 300.17).
• The IEP, or Individualized Education Program: each student's written plan, listing every service with its frequency, location and duration (34 CFR 300.320). Those are the "IEP minutes" your providers must deliver.
• Related services: the support services a student needs to benefit from special education.

Under 34 CFR 300.34, related services include transportation, speech-language pathology and audiology, interpreting, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation (including therapeutic recreation), early identification and assessment of disabilities, counseling (including rehabilitation counseling), orientation and mobility, and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. They also include school health and school nurse services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and training.

Most need a licensed or certified provider. Two common examples: What Does a School SLP Do? and What Does a School Psychologist Do?

The timelines that drive staffing

• Initial evaluation: within 60 days of receiving parental consent, or within your state's timeline if it sets one (34 CFR 300.301). Federal rules count calendar days; some states set their own clock in school days.
• Initial IEP: a meeting within 30 days after the student is found eligible, with services starting as soon as possible after the IEP is written (34 CFR 300.323).
• Start of the year: an IEP in effect for every eligible student at the beginning of each school year (34 CFR 300.323).
• Annual review: each IEP reviewed at least once a year (34 CFR 300.324).
• Reevaluation: at least once every three years, unless the parent and district agree it isn't needed (34 CFR 300.303).

None of these dates is a surprise. Current IEPs show next year's service minutes, and reviews and reevaluations are on the calendar months ahead. Demand for these providers is steady and predictable.

What an unfilled related-service position risks

A vacancy does not change what an IEP promises. When a position sits open, risk builds:

• Missed IEP minutes. Every session not delivered is a gap in the student's plan.
• Late evaluations. Consents and reevaluation dates keep coming, with no one to do the work.
• Compensatory services. Extra services to make up what a student missed, which IEP teams may decide on and states can order.
• State complaints. Any person or organization can file a signed written complaint with the state education agency about a violation in the past year (34 CFR 300.153). If the state finds services were not provided, it must address that with corrective action, such as compensatory services or monetary reimbursement (34 CFR 300.151).
• Due process. A parent can file a due process complaint about a student's evaluation, placement or FAPE and get a hearing before an impartial hearing officer. Hearings can cost staff time and legal fees, whatever the outcome.

Using someone without the required credential isn't a safe fix. Under 34 CFR 300.156, related-service providers must meet state licensing or certification requirements that have not been waived on an emergency, temporary or provisional basis. Assistants can help when they are trained and supervised under state rules.

How the services are paid for

These services are required by law and publicly funded. Three sources usually share the cost:

• IDEA Part B federal funds. The U.S. Department of Education sends Part B grants to each state, which keeps a limited share for state-level work and passes the rest to districts as subgrants (34 CFR 300.705). Federal funds cover only part of the cost.
• State and local funds. State funding formulas, which vary, and district budgets pay the rest.
• School-based Medicaid. In states with a school-based Medicaid program, districts can claim reimbursement for some covered services, including many IEP services, given to students enrolled in Medicaid. CMS, the federal Medicaid agency, published an updated guide to school-based Medicaid services and claiming in May 2023.

Before billing a child's public benefits for the first time, the district needs one-time written parental consent, and it must give parents written notice before first use and every year after (34 CFR 300.154). Parents cannot be required to enroll or pay any cost, and a refusal does not reduce the services owed. Medicaid also sets provider qualification and documentation rules, so confirm that a contract provider's credential and session notes support billing.

The point for staffing: the law sets the obligation and the money is public, so the need for these providers stays when budgets tighten.

Staffing options, in the order to try them

1. Contract for the school year or semester. Usually the fastest way to put a qualified provider in front of students and keep IEP minutes on track. The staffing firm employs the provider; you set the schedule and caseload. It suits vacancies, leaves, new students with heavy service needs and evaluation backlogs.
2. Teletherapy where it fits. Speech therapy, some counseling, and psychology consultation and report writing can be delivered live online by a provider who holds your state's required credential. Hands-on services, such as many OT and PT goals, usually need someone onsite. The IEP team weighs fit student by student. See our school teletherapy staffing hub.
3. Clinical fellows and assistants, with the supervision your state requires. Speech-language clinical fellows, SLPAs, COTAs (OT assistants) and PTAs (PT assistants) extend a licensed team under supervision that state rules define, so build the supervisor's time into the plan. See clinical fellow staffing.
4. Direct hire, second. Permanent hiring is the long-term answer for many positions, but it takes time students don't have. Contract first, then hire, including the contract provider if the fit is right.

A planning checklist for next school year

1. Total current IEP minutes by service and campus, plus expected growth, such as children turning 3 who are leaving early intervention.
2. List every related-service position: filled, open, or at risk from a leave, retirement or resignation.
3. Pull evaluation dates: reevaluations due next year and this year's referral pace.
4. For each gap, decide: contract for the year, contract for a semester, or hire.
5. Mark caseloads where teletherapy could work, and plan rooms, devices, connections and onsite facilitators.
6. Check your state's supervision rules for clinical fellows and assistants, and name each supervisor.
7. Confirm Medicaid billing basics: provider qualifications, documentation and parental consent on file.
8. Set budget lines by fund source with your business office.
9. Send job orders as soon as you know about a gap, using our district job-order form.
10. Track delivered and missed minutes every month, and plan make-ups before they become compensatory services.

How MedPoint Partners helps

MedPoint Partners staffs related-service and special education roles for K-12 districts: on contract for the year or semester, by teletherapy, or as direct hires. Send a job description and get a blinded shortlist in 48 to 72 hours. Licenses and certifications are checked before a candidate is sent, every résumé arrives with answers to your screening questions, and candidates are invited to film a short video intro.

For contract staff, MedPoint is the employer of record: weekly payroll, taxes and workers' comp, on one invoice. To preview a match, paste a job description into our school match tool.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.