Jim Thorpe Area School District administrators are proposing a significant expansion of special education services that they say would improve student outcomes while saving taxpayers approximately $250,000 annually.

The centerpiece of the plan involves creating a life skills classroom at LB Morris Elementary School to bring seven students back from Intermediate Unit programs into district-run facilities.

“Those IU classrooms cost us $57,500 per student, and that’s not including any of the related services like speech and occupational therapy,” Superintendent Robert Presley told the school board during a January workshop Wednesday night. “The students really should be in our classroom, because we have better control over it.”

The savings would be partially offset by the cost of hiring additional staff, but administrators say new revenue streams would still result in substantial net savings.

In addition to the life skills classroom requiring a teacher and paraprofessional, administrators are seeking to hire a third speech pathologist and an occupational therapist.

Bringing occupational therapy services in-house would cost an estimated $19,500 more than current expenditures, but Presley said the expansion would generate substantial new revenue through School-Based Medical Access Program funds that the district does not currently claim.

“There’s a huge amount of revenue that you can get through SBAP, but it is very time consuming, very meticulous, and you need to have somebody who is dedicated,” Presley said.

The proposal includes hiring an SBAP coordinator position that would cost approximately $70,000 in salary and benefits.

“Yes, it is a position, but it actually doesn’t cost the district any money, because we’re going to bill back the medical access for that position,” Presley said.

Montgomery County Intermediate Unit officials, who assist other districts including East Penn with SBAP claims, have recommended hiring the coordinator by March to allow for proper training before next school year.

Jim Thorpe currently serves approximately 500 special education students with one director and a secretary handling all administrative duties. Presley proposed adding a special education coordinator position, citing workload challenges and legal risks.

“Special education is where you’re going to get sued,” Presley said, “and when you get sued, it’s an easy $30,000 to $40,000 every time.”

He said typical settlements include $15,000 to $20,000 in compensatory education, plus legal fees for both sides.

“We really need somebody that can help oversee and work with teachers and make sure IEPs are where they’re supposed to be,” Presley said.

He also addressed inefficiencies in the current system. The IU currently charges about $207 per hour to provide speech services to district students in IU programs within Jim Thorpe’s own school buildings, while district speech pathologists could provide the same services for approximately $80 per hour.

“I am working with the IU to see if we can change this, because right now they don’t allow that,” Presley said. “Our taxpayers are pretty much paying twice. We’re paying for a speech pathologist who can’t service our own students in our own building.”