CASPER, Wyo. — On Monday, the Natrona County School District Board of Trustees approved nine contracts with various organizations and individuals to provide services to NCSD students and staff.
The nine contracts have a total amount of $3,271,069. The specific contracts are as follows, based on documentation available from NCSD (links provide further information on that contract from the school district):
- $1,800,000 contracts with various organizations for special education tutoring
- Contracts are with licensed providers who can provide “educational, residential, and mental health supports for students with behavioral and cognitive disabilities.”
- “These contracts support the continuance of placements for students already in facilities, changing facilities, or going to facilities when the district determines they cannot meet the student’s level of need and/or care,” the district says. “Contracts for individual students range from a low of $82,000 to a high of $275,000 annually. These contracts include all educational and residential services along with all related services specified in the IEP. In addition, the district is exploring day school options.”
- Reason for contracts: NCSD says that special education law requires that it have a continuum of placement options to serve all students with disabilities.
- $500,000 contract with Universal Health Systems/Wyoming Behavioral Institute
- $354,000 is for therapeutic services provided through the NCSD Foundations Program.
- Reason NCSD provides for this aspect of the contract: “UHS/WBI can provide therapy in an NCSD campus setting that will allow students who are struggling behaviorally and have needs beyond what the school-based mental health providers can provide [to get help]. The school-based teams have made referrals for students from their building they feel would benefit from the program. In Addition, UHS/WBI can provide medication management and psychiatric services and work with families on any recommendations in these areas.”
- $110,000 is for transition services provided to students placed on homebound services.
- Reason NCSD provides for this aspect of the contract: “Natrona County School District benefits from these services because Wyoming Statute 21-4-402 requires that school districts offer homebound instructions for pupils hospitalized for more than one week. This contract allows WBI to fulfill this statutory obligation in lieu of the district hiring both content and special education teachers and having them deliver the services inside of WBI.”
- $36,000 is for inpatient evaluation of individual students.
- Reason NCSD provides for this aspect of the contract: “UHS/WBI can provide specialized evaluations that are not able to be performed by NCSD staff.”
- $354,000 is for therapeutic services provided through the NCSD Foundations Program.
- $431,114 contract with Central Wyoming Counseling Center
- The contract is for 8,000 hours of counseling and social work service for K–12 students and for 8,000 of indirect services.
- Reason for contract: CWCC can provide counseling and social work services when students require “more intense counseling and therapy than what the school counselors and social workers can provide.”
- $220,000 contracts with various organizations for educational services for students with disabilities
- Contracts are with licensed providers who offer services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, counseling/social work and physical therapy to students with disabilities.
- Reason for contract: “Per special education law, the district must provide special education and related services even in the absence of the provider who is employed by NCSD.”
- $128,000 contract with Christi Kasa
- Kasa is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Department of Special Education. She will provide on-site training to NCSD staff at Poison Spider, Centennial and Pineview School during the 2022–2023 school year.
- Reason for contract: Kasa’s “personal research and background as an instructor for students with significant disabilities allows her to bring expertise to NCSD in a format that allows for training, coaching, and ongoing support throughout the school year for a number of staff. She is able to work with each member monthly and support them in a coaching and skill acquisition format.”
- $57,955 contract with COMPanion
- Contract is for a variety of library software the company provides.
- $55,000 contract with the Child Development Center
- Contract is for preschool screening of children ages 3–6.
- $45,000 contract with Conscious Discipline
- Contract is to provide training to staff in Conscious Discipline program’s “trauma-informed social and emotional learning and classroom management best practices.”
- Reason for contract: “Natrona County School District benefits from these services because many students are in need of increased levels of social and emotional learning support. NCSD teachers are in need of training and support.”
- $34,000 contract with Don Johnson
- Contract is for assistance provided to students with reading and writing disabilities through “Snap and Read” and “Co-writer” programs.
- Reason for contract: “Natrona County technology equipment currently cannot perform these functions.”
