BOONEVILLE - The Prentiss County school board is evaluating a recommendation that the district hire a full-time physical therapist to serve children with special needs.

The recommendation, made by Superintendent Matt Smith to the board during this week's regular board meeting, may be acted on in July.

The candidate whom Smith recommended for the position has a doctoral degree in physical therapy, is fully licensed and certified, and would be paid a salary of $48,000 per year.

Under previous contracts the district has paid more than $40,000 per year for a physical therapy consultant.

Because the consultant was serving several school districts, the support was not as consistent throughout the year as they would like, Smith said.

Some children in special education may be developmentally delayed and require physical therapy services in their individualized education plans.

"This candidate is familiar with filing for Medicaid, so we'll be able to recover money that we haven't in the past," he said. Some estimate that the district might recover as much as $20,000 per year in Medicaid claims.

Contact Lena Mitchell at (662) 287-9822 or lena.mitchell@djournal.com.