Pasco schools struggle to hire and keep speech pathologists

LAND O'LAKES — When it comes to providing speech and language therapy to students, Pasco County schools have few options.Federal special education law requires that the children receive needed services.Finding enough qualified professionals to do the work, however, is proving problematic. The district has 15 vacant speech-language pathologist jobs, of 126 — eight left over the summer — and admits its pay doesn't attract enough candidates."We are just not competitive," employee relations supervisor Kathy Scalise said during recent contract negotiations, where the district proposed increasing supplemental wages for the position.Already, the district accepts people most medical providers would not. It hires certified teachers who have a bachelor's degree in speech and language, compared to the full professional standard of a master's degree plus passing scores on several competency exams.Employees with fewer credentials have the opportunity to work in the field while going to school, getting added supervision as needed. They also receive mentoring from more qualified speech pathologists, who can gain extra pay for their extra work.Quite often, though, people leave the district for higher-paying private-sector jobs after completing their full training, district special programs supervisor Glennda McCallister said.The average speech pathologist salary in the district is $45,000 a year. A private provider can earn up to $85,000.That's about $60 per hour, and it's the amount the district pays to contractors if it cannot hire its own professionals. Last year, McCallister said, contracted speech services cost the school system about $1 million."It's not like we can hire a substitute teacher," McCallister said.Robin Fisher is one of the district's fully qualified speech language pathologists. She works at Woodland Elementary, where she's also the special education department chairwoman.In her 21 years in the profession, Fisher has held jobs in all varieties of public and private care. She prefers to remain with the school district because she can control her hours and caseload."Medicare doesn't recognize traditional holidays for patients," she said. "You fight for time off. It's difficult to get two weeks at a time off in a rehab center, because they don't have staff to cover you."The district provides those things, plus other benefits, including the chance to make a difference with kids, she said.What it doesn't offer is the money."To be able to afford to teach," Fisher said she works 300 to 400 hours a year outside the schools. She welcomes any added pay the district might offer, saying it might help bring in more candidates and retain them. Pasco is competing with surrounding districts — Hillsborough schools have 23 openings — as well as private groups such as Genesis Health Care, which also has positions available locally.McCallister said she recruits regularly, and collaborates with the University of South Florida to find students who might want to work for the schools. She was hopeful that increased pay would stem the turnover, though, so schools can end the employee learning curve and improve the overall level of service that students receive.The idea of increasing the base pay for speech therapists does not gain much traction, because the money would come out of the salary funds that go to everyone else. Speech pathologists are viewed as teachers in the district, and singling out one category while others see their raises limited would not go over well.Boosting a supplement by $1,600, by contrast, did not raise too many eyebrows during contract talks, once Scalise explained it. That increase could go into effect as soon as the contract is agreed upon.If a school does not have a speech pathologist on staff by the start of classes, it will contract for the services."We prefer to have direct hires at all costs," McCallister said. Contact Jeffrey S. Solochek at jsolochek@tampabay.com or (813) 909-4614. Follow @JeffSolochek.

Pasco schools struggle to hire and keep speech pathologists

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