{"id":72996,"date":"2026-02-20T18:52:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/?p=72996"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:12:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:12:25","slug":"short-of-staff-michigan-schools-try-virtual-special-education-speech-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/short-of-staff-michigan-schools-try-virtual-special-education-speech-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Short staff, Michigan schools use virtual special ed therapy. \u2018This is not ideal\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Michigan school districts are using virtual speech language pathologists and social workers<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>District leaders acknowledge it&#8217;s not a &#8216;stop-gap&#8217; solution to staff shortages <\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>It\u2019s unclear just how common this practice is<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>On any given school day in Eastpointe, a student in special education may be working on speech skills with someone on a screen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The student is receiving one-on-one support from a virtual speech pathologist. It\u2019s two-on-one support if you count the paraprofessional there to escort the child, supervise them and sometimes help with exercises.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eastpointe Community Schools Superintendent Christina A. Gibson has four virtual speech pathology providers and two in-person providers to help 149 students with speech services, including 37 pre-K students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a perfect world, she<strong> <\/strong>would prefer to have all in-person speech professionals. \u201cThis is not an ideal situation,\u201d Gibson told Bridge. \u201cI think the best speech services are delivered face-to-face.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Competition for speech teachers is fierce, and demand is outpacing supply, said Gibson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/michigan-fight-over-special-ed-services-lingers-years-after-covid-shutdown\/\"><strong>Michigan fight over special ed services lingers, years after COVID shutdown<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/benton-harbor-turns-to-virtual-teachers-amid-shortage-parents-arent-happy\/\"><strong>Benton Harbor turns to virtual teachers amid shortage. Parents aren\u2019t happy&nbsp;<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/special-education-in-michigan-three-things-to-know\/\"><strong>Special education in Michigan: Three things to know<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/report-michigan-churns-through-teachers-at-unsustainable-rate\/\"><strong>Report: Michigan churns through teachers at unsustainable rate<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/michigan-schools-hiring-spree-can-it-reverse-titanic-learning-losses\/\"><strong>Michigan schools on hiring spree. Can it reverse \u2018Titanic\u2019 learning losses?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBecause the demand is there all over the country, speech pathologists can work wherever they want to,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cAnd districts don\u2019t have choices. Our first priority is always to be compliant and to provide services to students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Couple that with a <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/michigan-schools-hiring-spree-can-it-reverse-titanic-learning-losses\/\">growing student need for speech services<\/a> and you get vacancies. Some of those vacancies get filled by virtual therapists.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of Friday, Optimise, a statewide special education talent task force, listed <a href=\"https:\/\/optimise.education\/jobs\/?_gl=1%2A1dkzicg%2A_up%2AMQ..%2A_gs%2AMQ..&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA49XMBhDRARIsAOOKJHYavtYWrw5pZXvtCN5yQAPugxLXAPbSP9vf-S7ApVQ9GvOwqtVrCfUaAlVtEALw_wcB&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAD-V5YgpQmL-8fKSrEH6B2ymRhsH9&amp;wpv-wpcf-specialty=Speech-Language+Pathologist&amp;wpv_aux_current_post_id=439653&amp;wpv_aux_parent_post_id=439653&amp;wpv_sort_orderby=modified&amp;wpv_sort_order=desc&amp;wpv_view_count=7935\">253 job openings for speech pathologists <\/a>to work in Michigan\u2019s public schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u2018Temporary\u2019 solution for broader problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In Ann Arbor, Dicken Elementary is using a virtual speech therapist after an in-person therapist resigned recently.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrew Cluley, an Ann Arbor Public Schools spokesperson, said the move is &#8220;temporary&#8221; and does not change students\u2019 goals in their individualized education programs (IEPs), how often or how much speech service a student receives.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur intent is to ensure continuity of services during staffing shortages rather than allowing gaps in support for 27 Dicken students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cluley said all speech languages services, regardless of if they are in-person or virtual, are being provided by Michigan-licensed speech language pathologists.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ann Arbor Education Association President Fred Klein said the transition to virtual speech is a \u201cBand-Aid, stop gap measure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said he\u2019s hopeful the district will be able to hire an in-person speech therapist but he said compensation remains a challenge in the district.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The union is negotiating a new contract with the district. More broadly, many have argued for an increase in teacher compensation to help attract and retain teachers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michigan ranks 44th nationwide in starting salaries, $41,645, while the average teacher pay of $69,067 ranks 19th among states, according to<a href=\"https:\/\/epicedpolicy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/TeacherCompensation_Report_August2025.pdf\"> an analysis<\/a> from the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) at Michigan State University.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, it\u2019s unclear just how common virtual staffing is for special education.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Districts report job<strong> <\/strong>vacancy information to the state, but the Michigan Department of Education said it does not know how many special education positions are being filled by virtual contractors or employees.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MDE declined to say whether the department believes speech services should be offered in-person.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThose types of decisions are made through an IEP developed at the local level based on the specific needs of each student,\u201d said MDE spokesperson Bob Wheaton.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are 215,449 students with Individualized Education Programs during the current school year, an increase of 1.8% than the previous school year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhenever you\u2019re doing any type of virtual services, you should be communicating with the family,\u201d said Tina Lawson, vice president of the Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education.<br><br>\u201cThey should have a clear understanding of what is taking place. Whether that\u2019s through an (individualized education program) discussion, or a direct phone call or some form of letter communication with the family to make sure that they understand the participation of it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michigan special education teaching positions have a higher vacancy rate than other fields, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/report-michigan-churns-through-teachers-at-unsustainable-rate\/\">a different analysis from EPIC<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just vacancies, it\u2019s also turnover,\u201d said Tara Kilbride, associate director of EPIC, who researches the teacher workforce. \u201cAnd turnover during the school year, especially, is higher in special education than other areas.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong> \u2018Human relationships\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While virtual workers can help students individually, educators acknowledge there are some aspects that aren\u2019t possible with someone on a screen. For example, they can\u2019t just hop into a classroom to help a teacher out if a specific student is having a behavioral concern or needs some time to cool off.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Potterville, the middle and high school uses a virtual social worker. Special education teacher Samantha Jean said the social worker is \u201camazing,\u201d and attends IEP meetings, meets one-on-one with Jean and has helped students meet their goals.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut then on the flip side of that is, you have those kids that really thrive on those human relationships. So I have had one student(s\u2019) family say \u2018until we have in-person, this just doesn\u2019t benefit him. He sits there, refuses to talk.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response, Jean said she helps the student with his social skills.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have to figure out a way to give those kids the services they need,\u201d Jean said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kilbride, the workforce researcher, said it\u2019s important to consider tradeoffs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf the alternative is not having anyone at all, that\u2019s obviously worse than having the virtual service provider,\u201d Kilbride said. \u201cIf the alternative is having your existing staff spread thin or having higher caseloads, harder workloads among the special education service providers, that can also be a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lawson, also the director of special education at Berrien RESA, said her intermediate district \u201cwould prefer in-person. It\u2019s definitely much more beneficial for students to have that one-to-one in-person provision of services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last spring, LaKesha Welch started the process of enrolling her son for first grade at Eastpointe. Welch said her son has autism and is nonverbal and hyperactive. Her son had already benefited from <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/should-aba-therapists-be-allowed-in-michigan-schools-to-aid-kids-with-autism\/\">applied behavioral analysis therapy<\/a>, and Welch hoped her son could become more independent in traditional public school. But she learned his speech services would be virtual, which Welch said she couldn\u2019t \u201csee that being a workable solution for my son.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, Welch chose for her son to enroll in L\u2019Anse Creuse Schools, another Macomb County district.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Solutions for special education<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Administrators acknowledged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/mde\/services\/special-education\/funding\/idea-grant-initiatives\/se-teacher-tuition-grant\">state efforts<\/a> to increase the number of teachers and other roles that support students with disabilities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, they say more should be done.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jean wants districts and the state to ensure social workers who have never been in an education setting before have training on classroom management, verbal de-escalation skills and mandated reporting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMan, if I had that magic wand, it would be putting those people in those positions with the correct training behind it,\u201d Jean said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gibson, of Eastpointe, said she continues to work with her local union to see if the district can provide financial incentives for hard-to-staff positions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also wants the state to change rules so that paraprofessionals can directly provide speech services with the guidance of speech therapists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As school leaders see an increase in students with disabilities, they say there aren\u2019t enough speech professionals to go around. Virtual therapists are a &#8216;stop-gap&#8217; solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":72997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-02-20T23:52:57Z","apple_news_api_id":"0a704643-2fb1-425d-96fb-fcebfa65e661","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-02-23T18:12:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ACnBGQy-xQl2W-_zr-mXmYQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[2454],"tags":[1510,14],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2475],"class_list":["post-72996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-talent-education","tag-michigan-k-12-schools","tag-michigan-worker-vacancies","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Short staff, Michigan schools use virtual special ed therapy. \u2018This is not ideal\u2019 - Bridge Michigan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/talent-education\/short-of-staff-michigan-schools-try-virtual-special-education-speech-therapy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Short staff, Michigan schools use virtual special ed therapy. \u2018This is not ideal\u2019 - Bridge Michigan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As school leaders see an increase in students with disabilities, they say there aren\u2019t enough speech professionals to go around. 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