[Updated April 11, 2024]

What the district takes away, contracted third parties will provide.

Based on current budget discussions, folks in Hartford Public Schools who wear the following hats will see some of their colleagues suddenly out of a job:

• School psychologists

• Speech and language pathologists

• Special education staff

• Social workers,

• Non-special education paraeducators

• Behavior technicians

These folks being cut were unfortunate enough not to be associated with a private organization which provides the same services, but based on their education, experience, and certification, they were hired by HPS on their own merit.

During an April 4th Committee of the Whole Meeting, board members were presented with contract renewals for five outside agencies who have been providing the same folks as those who are currently being cut from HPS payrolls.

These contracts total $6.5 million over one year and the district calls some of these contracts “economical” because they are paying a flat fee without paying benefits.  To hell with good will toward employees from within the community.

And not one of these contracts are going out to a vendor from within the community, or even close to it.  The business model of these companies is to offer temporary “traveling nurses” services, whether it be physical or mental medical services.  The people coming into your child’s school from these companies are most likely not from your community, they may not look, talk, or think like your students.  There is no community attachment.  Here today, gone tomorrow.

AMN Healthcare is a corporate entity based in San Diego offering traveling medical services.  Having spent the last 25 years buying up smaller businesses, AMN is now a corporate darling of Wall Street.  Their stock (AMN – NYSE) is currently rated a “moderate buy,” if you are interested.

Connecticut Behavioral Health is at least in Connecticut, calling New London home but having 11 offices throughout the state.  And like the failed marketing firm from Avon (Adams & Knight), HPS has once again partnered with a company which appears to recognize the importance of diversity of staff because they saw it on Wikipedia.

CBS Therapy is a Rhode Island based company and unlike our next contractual contestant, they claim to vet their traveling therapists.  Soliant Healthcare is based in Georgia and in January of this year it appeared their vetting of traveling staff is as thorough as a vetting by the HPS Board of Education.

A Soliant healthcare worker found himself in a position in Iowa, where he was quickly convicted of sexual assault, from which it was discovered that he had two previous sexual assault charges in Iowa from the year prior.  Which all led back to an apparent 1990 rape conviction in Alabama.  On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again.

The Georgia-based Soliant group lists 16 testimonials on their webpage, none from a client in Connecticut. Last year, Soliant rant a “Most Beautiful Hospitals in America” contest to find the twenty most beautiful hospitals in America.  No hospital in Connecticut made the top 20 list, and there was only one in New England which made the list, MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, Maine.  No, this has nothing to do with the quality of Soliant’s services or about their traveling rapists, but it was just an interesting aside.  My bad.

Then there is Stepping Stones Group LLC, which pays an office rental fee in West Hartford and has an “agent” in Hartford, but they call home Chicago, Illinois.  Stepping Stones is one of many vendors offering traveling medical services that were gobbled up by Cumberland Therapy Services over the past 10 years.  Cumberland Therapy follows the practices of folks like Amazon, Wal Mart, Google, Tesla, American Express, and Disney to register their “home” as being located in Delaware.  Businesses register in Delaware to avoid taxes, enjoy privacy and anonymity, and a simplified and favorable corporate law environment.  In essence, they don’t give a shit about the communities they serve.

These contracts for continuing private temporary staffing within HPS will come before the board’s Regular Meeting for certain approval on April 16th at 5:30 p.m.