Cumberland, SC: BofE approves more than $1.88M for SPED service contracts

Aug 13, 2026, Cumberland Schools OKs $1.88M for Special Education Services      

The Cumberland County Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved more than $1.88 million in purchase agreements and professional service contracts to support students with disabilities.

The $1,884,713.22 in purchases and contracts includes iPads for K-5 Extended Content Standards classrooms, which serve students with significant cognitive disabilities; an online instructional platform for high school Exceptional Children’s students; renewed sign-language interpreter services; and contracts with two outside companies providing psychoeducational evaluations. . . .

The funding for the contracts for the district’s Exceptional Children’s Services comes less than two months after the school board approved more than $7.3 million in contracts for therapy providers, staffing agencies, and instructional support services to support students with disabilities for the 2026-27 school year.

The new spending comes as Cumberland County Schools continues to face scrutiny over its special education services. Earlier this year, state investigators found the district failed to consistently implement accommodations for a middle school student, while separate state complaints and a federal lawsuit have raised concerns about delays in evaluating students suspected of having disabilities.

During the committee discussion, administrators also acknowledged persistent vacancies in several specialized Exceptional Children’s positions despite recent hiring progress. . . .

 ‘That Is Something to Celebrate’ 

The agreements with Krush Evaluations and Pear continue the district’s use of outside companies to complete psychoeducational evaluations as Cumberland County Schools works to address staffing shortages and an increase in referrals.

The evaluations measure areas such as students’ cognitive abilities, academic performance, social-emotional development, and adaptive skills. The results can help school teams determine whether students qualify for special education services and what support they may need.

Lisa Craver, the school district’s psychological services coordinator, said both companies have worked with the district for three years and have become an important part of its evaluation process.

“These two agencies we’ve been working with for the past three years  have consistently completed 200 evaluations a piece for each company,” Craver said. “They do make a significant impact on the number of evaluations that we’re able to complete.”

Craver said the district completes more than 2,000 psychoeducational evaluations each year through a combination of contractors and district psychologists.

Ahead of the 2026-27 school year, Cumberland County Schools also hired eight new school psychologists, an accomplishment Craver highlighted during the committee discussion.

“That is something to celebrate,” Craver said.

Craver said the district recruited heavily from university training programs across the country, bringing interns from West Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Kansas, and Western Carolina University. . . .

Instead, Cumberland County Schools brought together psychologists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists in what Craver described as a “one-stop shop,” allowing multiple evaluation services to be provided in one location.

Looking ahead to the 2026-27 school year, Craver said the combination of newly hired psychologists and contractors should allow the district to continue reducing its evaluation backlog.