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PSS faces a hard time in hiring specialists
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Posted on Jun 20 2000
The Public School System is currently experiencing difficulties in hiring licensed experts that would support the needs of special education students in all the 16 schools across the Northern Marianas.
PSS legal counsel Tim Connor has mentioned two concerns which hinder the system from acquiring physical therapists under its special education program.
Mr. Connor said that PSS is facing difficulty in competing with other school districts in recruiting licensed physical therapists to work on the islands of Saipan, Rota, and Tinian.
“What the Commonwealth board is doing is requiring the physical therapists to be licensed in one of the 50 states,” said Mr. Connor.
Another problem, he continued, was a federal law that mandates the local school system to provide physical therapists’ services for its students, otherwise referred to as the Indigenous Disabilities Act.
“If we don’t comply with this act, we could be sanctioned, fined or held liable in court,” he added.
According to Mr. Connor, there is a vast number of good physical therapists who may already be working toward acquiring their licenses.
The legal counsel has then recommended that the board allow unlicensed experts to practice at PSS under the supervision of a licensed physical therapist.
“We’re requesting this because we have so many schools, spread across three islands and it would relieve the obligation of having a licensed physical therapist there with the unlicensed one,” said Mr. Connor.
Mr. Connor has suggested that the unlicensed specialist create a description on the list of services he or she must deliver to special education students.
An open network of communication would enable the licensed and unlicensed expert to confer whether the right procedures are being performed, according to the legal counsel.
“It would be a good idea to always have telephone access in case the unlicensed person has questions,” he said.
The board has yet to draft a final set of policies that would address the need of PSS special education students with regard to PT services.
The school system is also seeking assistance from the Governor’s Office to expedite such efforts. Currently, PSS has two in-house physical therapists on board. (MM)
