Dr. Harris, the district student services lead, told the Education Committee on Nov. 12 that the district is actively recruiting to fill special education teacher and support vacancies and is using a mix of internal hires and contracted certified staff to meet needs.

Dr. Harris said one offer for a school psychologist has been extended and the candidateis expected to respond by the end of the coming week. For speech-language pathologists he said the district received an internal applicant who is being screened, has onboarded at least one contracted SLP, and has two more contracted candidates in screening. He added that so far three internal William Penn applicants received offers; one declined for another offer and two offers remain in progress. For contracted certified special education teachers he reported five interviews and five offers; two candidates did not complete interviews and three offers were accepted pending onboarding.

Dr. Harris said the district has worked with HR and Kelly Services since the summer to provide substitute coverage but is prioritizing vendors that supply certified candidates for permanent or sustained needs. He described supervision of contracted staff: principals provide building-level oversight while special education supervisors, the executive director for student services and the student services central office interface directly with agency supervisors when contracted staff are used.

A parent who identified herself in the meeting as Miss Favor said she had heard "a lot of negative things" about the Green Avenue campus nurse supplied by a contractor and asked what oversight existed because students were avoiding the nurse. Dr. Harris said he could not discuss individual personnel matters publicly but encouraged parents to raise specific concerns to him and to Dr. Williams. He reiterated that building principals and central-office supervisors provide supervision and that the special education supervisors and executive director are responsible for oversight of contracted vendors.

The Education Committee did not take formal action on hiring beyond receiving the update. Dr. Harris said the district uses the DCIU to meet urgent needs while it completes hiring and onboarding processes.

Key clarifying numbers from the Education Committee record: three internal William Penn offers were made (one declined), five contracted-certified special education interviews completed with offers extended and three accepted pending onboarding, and the district reported a rolling onboarding process for mental-health and behavior staff provided by partnered vendors. Exact salary or contract values were not provided in the presentation.