Caseloads

[perrmau]

I'd like to see what other peoples' caseload numbers are. Please post how much you work, how many and what type of schools you are at, approximate population of the school, number of students on your caseload, and state. Thanks!
For example, 80% position, 2 schools ( 4th-6th - about 550 students, and 7th-8th - about 390 students), current # on caseload 43, WI

[ledgerly]

I am fulltime in a middle school grades 5-8 approx 500 students. I have 54 in my caseload and another SLP works 3 days with about 33 in her caseload. A few of the kiddos have 1 sesion with me and another with her so the total is less than the sum of our 2 caseloads. Seems like too many any way we split the students....never enough time. Our school has all the district program classrooms for grades 5-8 for life skills, emotional/behavioral disorders (many with speech-lang/prag goals), and ASD classes. So these students require more therapy time. In additon I have 1 student with SM and 7 ASD who function well academically but not socially and these are not among the 13 students in the program classrooms.
Lauren

[articwonder]

Some have commented on the topic of making up missed speech therapy minutes. Speech Therapists in most schools are considered employees on a yearly contract (just as teachers are) and as such are allotted a certain number of sick/personal days each year (and which are usually cumulative), yet when a Therapist is absent, he/she is told to make up that lost time. Classroom teachers are also given those days but do not have to make up that lost time because a substitute is there in his/her place. This is hardly equitable because many school districts do not hire speech therapy subs, yet it happens frequently. I believe that if this issue were investigated further, one would find that it is the DISTRICT's responsibility to provide compensatory time, not the therapist's. I have heard that in some districts, Therapists create one day a week for evaluations/eval report writing, noting progress, classroom observations, make-up sessions, etc. This is a great way to meet the demands if the time can be arranged, however, in many districts, the Speech Therapist's weekly time is completely booked with students and those other elements listed above are completed after hours. At any rate, the issue of providing compensatory time should be addressed and the Therapist's sick/personal days should be honored and covered for by the school district in the event of that person's absence. It is possible to hire appropriately qualified Speech Therapy Implementers or Speech Therapists to fill this substitute need. We are out here, many of us in the form of retirees who would welcome such a position.