The UFT is in a heated fight with the Department of Education over the outsourcing of therapy work in schools.

A survey of occupational and physical therapists that the union conducted in September found that at least 5,000 therapy sessions scheduled for this school year will be outsourced to private providers. The majority of them are in District 75.

The UFT is pushing the DOE to schedule these sessions with full-time therapists using the additional ninth session that was negotiated as part of the 2023 DOE-UFT contract to address the staffing shortage.

A full workday for an occupational or physical therapist is eight sessions long, but the contract established that the DOE may offer therapists a ninth session to meet student needs.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Occupational and Physical Therapists Chapter Leader Thomas Ayrovainen. The full-time therapists in schools get the chance to earn additional pay and students receive a higher standard of care from therapists who have expertise working in schools and relationships with co-workers that result in meaningful collaboration.

Yet, all through the 2023–24 school year, the DOE failed to implement a payroll process for the ninth session.

“Students’ needs went unmet while therapists who were willing and able to cover these sessions couldn’t intervene,” said Ayrovainen.

Now the DOE says its reason for not implementing the ninth session isn’t operational, but budgetary.

“Where’s the money going?” asked UFT Vice President for Middle Schools Richard Mantell, who works closely with Ayrovainen.

Mantell said the money the DOE is spending on hiring part-time therapists from private agencies would be better spent on funding ninth sessions with current staff or hiring additional full-time therapists.

Krista Shelton, a full-time occupational therapist at PS 138M, a District 75 school in Manhattan, said therapists from private agencies can’t provide the same level of care because they aren’t “already in the building, working with the school team.”

Shelton meets regularly with teachers, paraprofessionals and parents to integrate therapeutic techniques in the classroom and at home. For instance, she has helped teachers to implement adaptive classroom equipment and change seating.

“Our relationships with the teachers and with the whole IEP team are so important,” she said.

Shelton recalled a student she worked with last school year who struggled to sit at a desk during the school day, even for short periods of time. Shelton helped the teacher implement movement breaks throughout the day, created a laminated schedule for the student with the help of her paraprofessionals and led push-in therapy sessions for the class.

“Eventually, the student was able to sit and do work for longer and longer periods, and even complete standardized tests,” she said.

Ayrovainen said all special education students should receive the expert support of therapists like Shelton.

“The DOE should do the right thing,” he said. “Let our occupational and physical therapists do what we do best.”