Districts face rising costs for speech language pathologists

Providing speech therapy services to students is an ever-evolving puzzle with nationwide staff shortages driving up the cost for school districts. 

It takes Shannon Richards, special education director at the Moscow School District, 20 minutes to list all the creative ways she’s filled speech language pathology vacancies — including teletherapy and hiring an out-of-state candidate.

“In March, I knew I was down to one SLP and that had me in sheer panic,” Richards said.  “A lot of these openings are up for a year and I get two applications.”  

SLPs provide a range of services, from addressing speech delays in younger children to providing intensive therapy for non-verbal students. 

These services are often part of a special education or individualized education program (IEP), meaning schools are required to provide them regardless of how difficult it is to hire SLPs. 

Of Moscow’s 301 children receiving special education services, 160 need SLP services. 

Caseloads for an SLP in Richard’s district sit at about 40 students each. 

According to a survey earlier this year from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 78.5% of school respondents reported job openings for SLP’s exceeded people looking for jobs. 

Moscow school leaders recently increased SLP pay, which may help the district better recruit and retain them.

Still, it’s difficult to keep SLPs in Moscow and other areas in North Idaho, with Washington and its higher wages just a few miles away. 

If Richards can’t fill her SLP positions and provide adequate services, she has to work with a telehealth company, costing the district significantly more. 

An in-district SLP in Moscow typically makes between $50 to $60 an hour. But an online contractor generally costs $70 to $80 an hour, Richards said.

Plus, a paraprofessional is required to shuttle the kids to and from teletherapy and often sit in the room and supervise them.

Because of that, telehealth services can cost double what districts pay to employ an SLP directly.

Another complication: Idaho only has one SLP program, limiting the options for those interested in the field.

“I think that’s also working against us,” Richards said. “We, just as a state, we need more SLPs than what our system is producing.”

Idaho has only one SLP program

Idaho State University is the only college in Idaho that has a speech language pathology program. 

Alycia Cummings

ISU offers its master’s degree program in Pocatello, Meridian and online with a goal of having 15 people in person at each campus and 25 online students each year, said Alycia Cummings, associate professor and chair of the communication sciences department.

There are about 160 students in the program at a time. That’s far greater than other comparable programs that run about 20 students per cohort, Cummings noted. 

While the program could grow to meet the SLP need, expanding too much could be problematic, Cummings said.  It’s not just raw numbers, it’s the quality of graduates, too. If students are unprepared for the actual workload as an SLP upon graduation, it’s less likely they’ll stay in the profession, she said.

Most people in ISU’s undergraduate and graduate programs have some experience with a speech language pathologist in their own lives, said Mary Van Donsel, who directs the undergraduate and post-baccalaureate programs. 

It’s not the first profession people think of, like becoming a doctor or a nurse, when wanting to go into the medical field, Van Donsel said. Even compared to other similar programs like occupational or physical therapy, speech language pathology is lesser known, she said. 

ISU’s program often reaches out to students who want to go into healthcare but are unsure exactly what they want to do and educates them on speech language pathology, she said. That outreach is key in filling the need statewide, Van Donsel said.

The scope of a SLP’s practice is huge, said Amy Hardy, clinic director. 

Idaho SLPs struggle to find mentors at schools

“It’s basically birth to death,” she said. 

Students do clinical rotations in a variety of settings from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities to schools. 

Amy Hardy

“Their initial thoughts can sometimes change,” Hardy said of students’ desired practice area.

But the positive thing is there’s a need everywhere, she said. 

One problem for students considering working in schools is the lack of available mentors, Hardy said. 

Students are required to work in a school as part of their clinicals but it can be difficult to find a school placement for their eight week long externship, she said. Professionals aren’t paid to supervise students and with large caseloads in most schools, it can be hard to get SLP students into schools for an extended period. 

“A school SLP is very very busy,” Cummings said. 

SLPs are a part of the IEP process, they work with special education directors along with other specialties. They not only have to provide the therapy but coordinate schedules and do paperwork, she said. 

Hiring struggle remains: “Just getting an applicant would be great,” one administrator said. 

In Rathdrum, Lakeland Superintendent Lisa Arnold said they too struggle to hire SLPs. 

“They’re finding that they can go online and make more money,” Arnold said. “That’s not the ideal way to work with kids who struggle to learn.” 

Arnold also cited the expense of hiring a teletherapist as an obstacle. 

In nearby Coeur d’Alene Public Schools, there’s also a shortage, said Frank Maier, director of special education. They currently have 11 SLPs on staff and two virtual. 

Even with the larger number of SLPs, caseloads in Coeur d’Alene are often high, especially by the end of the year as new student needs emerge. Maier said they often end up with caseloads of 55. 

“Just getting an applicant would be great,” Maier said. “Pay is always a factor with those particular positions, they do so much and we do our best with the funding that we get.”

Most of their SLPs are assigned to more than one school building, making travel time yet another costly problem. 

However, having them in the building is invaluable, Maier said. 

“I think a lot of the work they do is pretty integral to the success of all students. I know a number of our SLPs, when they’re just walking down the hallways to their room, they’re listening to kids talk,” Maier said. “They’re always on the hunt. They are looking at every student in that building.”  

Emma Epperly

Emma Epperly

Emma came to us from The Spokesman Review. She graduated from Washington State University with a B.A. in journalism and heads up our North Idaho Bureau.

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