SALEM TOWNSHIP — SAD 58 directors Thursday weighed the advantages of having district employees provide reimbursable special education services.

SAD 58 is required to deliver two types of special education services — rehabilitative and community support, and behavioral health — to MaineCare recipients.

It pays Tri-County Mental Health Services for these services and shares its special education administrator, Laureen Olsen, with RSU 74, based in North Anson.

Directors agreed the RSU 58 special education position should be full time.

“We pay an average of $1,600 a month for five or six hours a week at $84 an hour,” Superintendent Brenda Stevens said. “A significant portion of these services are reimbursable.”

The district could bill MaineCare between $100,000 and $200,000 a year for the two types of services, if district employees provide them. Stevens gave the board a detailed financial proposal that would pay staff to handle these responsibilities.

“I know there’s some confusion about how much that would cost,” Stevens said.

Students would have to be provided with an individual service plan before the district could bill MaineCare. The district would pay for training to start serving students in-house next year, but the savings should pay for the investment.

The critical factor, the board concluded, was the uncertainty about state and federal reimbursement consistency. If reimbursement funds are not available, the district would not have a way to pay employees.

“If we go through with this, and the rug got pulled out from under us, would we have to let these people go?” Phillips director John Foss asked.

Stevens suggested the proposed staff contracts could be structured as one-year positions to allow the district to revisit the costs if the next Maine Legislature decided against funding some of these MaineCare services.

“How long would it take to roll this out to be billable?” Foss asked.

Stevens said the district could start billing in December if it had the required licensed and certified staff in place.

The board supported Stevens’ suggestion to invest in the change.

“This is probably a good deal in the long run and the best thing for the kids,” Kingfield director Julie Talmage said. “I’m just not sure we have all our ducks in a row to do this responsibly.”

Board members did not determine whether they would advertise to fill the new positions.

In other news, directors agreed to cover costs for night lighting for athletic fields by using money students pay to play sports.