Points of interest…
- Warwick, R.I., matched private-sector pay, yet SLP candidates still declined.
- The vacancy cost students roughly 25 school days of speech services.
- To recoup lost minutes, an agency therapist works alongside the new hire.
When a School SLP Seat Sits Empty: How Districts Make Up Missed Services
A Warwick, R.I. case study on shortages, makeup plans, and what it means for SLPs
In Warwick, Rhode Island, a school speech-language pathologist position stayed unfilled well into the school year, leaving students to miss about 25 school days of services before a new hire started October 19. The district matched private-sector pay, and candidates still declined.
That gap sets off stopgap coverage, missed IEP minutes, and required compensatory or makeup services. It also raises the question of why qualified SLPs choose private or contract work, and what families and staff can request when services lapse.
For parents, school SLPs, and SLP graduate students weighing a school career, Warwick is a case study in how one vacancy becomes a compliance and workload problem.
Case Study: What Happened When Warwick Couldn't Fill an SLP Position
Matching private-sector pay versus actually winning private-sector candidates: Warwick, Rhode Island, learned those are not the same thing. Stephen Carter, the district's director of special education, walked the Special Education Advisory Committee through the problem at a Wednesday night meeting, and his account reads like a compressed version of the national school SLP shortage.
The Vacancy
A speech-language therapy position in Warwick stayed open into the school year. According to Carter, everyone offered the job turned it down, and those candidates were earning more in the private sector. The district then offered pay that matched private-sector rates. Candidates still declined.
That detail matters for anyone weighing school SLP jobs. When equal pay fails to close the gap, other parts of the job are likely in play, though Carter did not say what drove each refusal.
A new speech therapist is scheduled to start Oct. 19. Carter described the hire as an experienced therapist with a very good reputation, coming from another school district. By the time that person arrives, he estimated students will have missed about 25 school days of speech services, a figure he called "rough."
The Makeup Plan
- Parent notice: The district sent a letter to affected parents the week before the meeting, before it knew it had a candidate.
- Two providers at once: An agency is supplying a temporary speech therapist who will work concurrently with the new hire to recoup missed service time.
- The reasoning: Carter said running both therapists reflects that a single provider could not make up those hours within a year.
Open Questions
Carter did not identify which schools were affected or give a timeline for finishing the makeup sessions. For families tracking IEP minutes, and for the clinicians delivering them, those are the next questions worth asking.
Warwick Isn't Alone: What National Data Say About School SLP Vacancies
A district matching private-sector pay and still getting turned down is not an outlier story; it is the national pattern in miniature. The most recent ASHA Schools Survey, fielded in spring 2024, shows that school-based SLPs across the country describe a market where open positions outnumber the people willing to take them.
Four numbers worth remembering
- 79% of school-based SLPs in the 2024 ASHA Schools Survey said job openings for clinical SLPs exceeded the number of job seekers in their school type and geographic area.2
- 90.5% of secondary-school respondents said the same, the highest rate of any setting, followed by elementary schools at 85.7%.3
- 41.9% of 2024 respondents reported a personnel shortage in their own setting.1
- That shortage figure sat at 30.8% in the 2022 survey, so the share reporting a shortage climbed by more than ten percentage points in two years.4
One caveat worth keeping straight: these are practitioner perceptions, not a national count of vacant positions. ASHA's survey asks SLPs what they see in their own corner of the market. No national census of unfilled school SLP jobs exists.
Why one empty chair empties a whole schedule
School SLPs carry a caseload, not a queue. When a position goes unfilled, every student with speech or language minutes on an active IEP at those buildings loses service at once, because there is no partial coverage built into the model. That is how a single Warwick vacancy translated into roughly 25 school days of missed services for an entire group of students before a replacement started.
How Districts Typically Cover a School SLP Vacancy
When a school SLP position sits open, districts usually lean on one or more of five stopgaps, and each carries its own compliance risk. Agency coverage and teletherapy can bridge a short gap or stretch across a full year, while reassigned caseloads and reduced-direct-service models tend to break down if the opening lasts more than a few weeks. That steady demand is why so many school districts hiring SLPs also post travel and contract roles, and why those listings often move quickly.
| Stopgap | How it works | Main advantage | Main limit or compliance risk | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agency or contract SLP | The district brings in an external SLP to deliver services directly or to supervise routine tasks done by SLPAs or other school staff. | Services continue during the vacancy, and a contractor can run alongside a new hire to make up missed minutes. | The district must confirm the clinician is licensed where the student is located and that the arrangement meets school, state, federal, and privacy requirements. | Short or year-long vacancies |
| Teletherapy (direct SLP telepractice) | A remote SLP works with students, with appropriate student selection, a suitable setting, adequate technology, privacy protections, and IDEA documentation and notification. | It provides services when no in-person provider is available, and quality should match in-person intervention. | Licensure and certification must be verified in both the provider's state and the student's state. State law takes precedence over ASHA guidance. | Short or year-long vacancies, for students suited to remote services |
| Reassigned caseloads | The district's existing SLPs absorb students from the open position. | Students work with familiar district staff, and no outside contract is needed. | Caseloads and workloads grow heavier, which raises the risk of missed IEP minutes and staff burnout. | Brief gaps only |
| SLP-A support | An SLPA serves students selected by a supervising SLP, who monitors the SLPA's work and documents supervision. Live telesupervision is acceptable. | Routine sessions can continue under appropriate supervision, in person or through telepractice. | An SLPA cannot be the sole provider. Medically fragile students require 100% direct supervision. State rules vary, and some states do not permit support personnel. | Short or year-long vacancies, only when a supervising SLP is in place |
| Consultative or reduced-direct-service model | SLPs shift some time toward consulting with teachers and staff instead of delivering direct sessions. | Limited SLP time can reach more students and classrooms. | Changes to IEP services should be decided by the IEP team based on student needs, not driven by staffing shortfalls. | Brief gaps, and only when appropriate for the individual student |
In the 2026 ASHA Schools Survey, a key source for school SLP caseload and intent-to-leave data, only 28.3% of the eligible postal sample completed the survey, representing 2,079 of 7,351 respondents. That thin response base shapes every national workload figure drawn from the survey.
Makeup Services and Compensatory Education: What Districts Owe Students
When a school speech-language pathologist is absent or a position is unfilled, federal special education law does not pause a student's individualized education program. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the district must still provide a free appropriate public education, including the speech-language therapy written into an IEP. A staffing shortage does not erase that duty.
Makeup sessions versus compensatory services
The labels matter. A makeup session generally replaces a missed service in the normal course, such as rescheduling a session the same week or adding time later. Compensatory services are different. They are an individualized remedy for a denial of FAPE, designed to help a child recover lost skills or progress. Under IDEA Part B there is no universal rule, fixed number of missed sessions, or automatic one-for-one formula.1 Federal guidance from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), including a January 2022 policy letter, says the IEP team must decide case by case whether a missed service actually denied educational benefit.
What an IEP team should review
The team would look at the number and duration of missed sessions, the cause, whether the child's progress or IEP goals were affected, and whether ordinary rescheduling, added sessions, extended sessions, or a substitute provider would restore progress. If those steps are not enough, the team determines the nature and amount of compensatory services. The district, not the individual speech-language pathologist, is responsible for arranging qualified professionals when a vacancy occurs.1
Documentation and parent notice
Districts should log each missed session, the reason, how parents were notified, and the proposed plan to make up or compensate. A parent notice should say what was missed, why, and what the district plans to do, including a contact person. A vacancy does not reduce the district's obligation to notify families or act.2
Why Warwick used two providers at once
In the Warwick case, district officials estimated roughly 25 school days of speech services would be missed before the new hire arrived. A new speech therapist was scheduled to start October 19 and the district brought in an agency therapist to work concurrently. District leaders said one provider could not recoup the missed hours within a year. That model is a practical example of compensatory services in action, but it also shows how quickly missed IEP minutes can compound in a shortage.
This section is general information, not legal advice. Families with questions about a specific child should speak with the school or a special education advocate.
Why Districts Lose Candidates: School Pay Versus Contract and Private Pay
Warwick's special education director said the district matched private-sector pay and candidates still turned the job down, a reminder that salary is only one factor next to caseload size, workload, and paperwork. The figures below come from different sources and years, so treat them as approximate: the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports SLP pay across all settings combined and does not separate school pay from private, clinic, or hospital pay. Contract hourly rates also don't compare directly with a district salary, because contract work usually lacks employer health insurance, a pension, paid leave, and pay for school breaks.
| Pay measure | Figure | Source and year | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLP annual wage, 25th percentile (all settings) | $77,730 | BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, approx. 2025 | Covers schools, clinics, hospitals, and other settings together |
| SLP annual wage, median (all settings) | $97,870 | BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, approx. 2025 | School and private pay are not reported separately |
| SLP annual wage, 75th percentile (all settings) | $114,570 | BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, approx. 2025 | Upper range across all employer types |
| School-based SLP median annual salary | $89,000 | ASHA Schools Survey, 2026 | About 91% of school SLPs work a 9- or 10-month schedule |
| Contract school SLP hourly rate (reported range) | $65 to $85 per hour | Survey and crowdsourced data, 2024 | About 92% are paid hourly; rates vary by agency and region and breaks are usually unpaid |
| Contract school SLP gross annual pay (worked example) | $119,000 | Published worked example, 2026 | Gross figure before self-funded health insurance, retirement, and unpaid breaks |
| District SLP employer-paid benefits (estimate) | $18,000 to $20,000 per year | Published estimates, 2026 | Varies by state and district; includes health coverage and pension contributions |
| School-based SLP contract days per year | 180 to 190 days | Published estimates, 2026 | Summers and school breaks are typically off |
| Medical-setting SLP workdays per year | 245 to 250 days | Published estimates, 2026 | Year-round schedule helps explain higher annual totals |
