MANSFIELD – The Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center has announced it has been awarded the Speech-Language Pathology & School Psychology Consultant Grant for the 2025-2026 school year.
This grant will significantly bolster support for districts across central Ohio, enhancing the quality and compliance of speech- language and school psychology services.
Eric Turlo, MOESC Director of Student Services, stated, “Our consultants are instrumental in supporting current SLPs and School Psychologists while also raising awareness about the critical need for personnel in these fields.
“With their guidance, we’re better equipped to support our districts and students and ensure that this will continue into the future.”
Experienced Consultants Johanna Gilland, Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), and Kylie Dennison-Rebon, School Psychologist, will continue in their consultant roles, focusing on improving the following areas in alignment with ODEW’s Four Pillars: Literacy Support, Accelerating Learning, Workforce Readiness and Student and Staff Wellness:
Regional Impact: Consultants provide individualized and team consultation across multiple counties, ensuring even small or rural districts have access to expert support.
Special Education Compliance: Consultant commitment to helping districts remain compliant with state and federal special education laws, providing training for both general and special education staff and sharing guidance from ODEW.
Recruitment & Retention: By focusing on workload/caseload management, professional development and mentorship, consultants directly address the statewide shortage of school psychologists and SLPs and help sustain the workforce.
Support for Isolated Practitioners: Recognizing that a speech language therapist and school psychologist may serve as the singular provider in their districts or split time between multiple districts, the consultant’s role provides essential connection, guidance and problem-solving support.
The Consultants have developed an SLP and School Psychology Consultant newsletter, where you will find direct links to the following:
The Consultant Website
Monthly Webinars (focus on compliance topics)
Virtual Office Hours
Consultant Contact Information
The Consultants are leading several key initiatives designed to strengthen services and support the next generation of professionals in the field. Highlights include a monthly virtual Network Series, co-hosted with the SLP and School Psychologist Consultants, addressing timely topics such as ETR/IEP compliance, the use of AI in education and related services FAQs.
In addition, the Consultants are instrumental in launching MOESC’s High School Mentorship Program, which introduces students to career pathways in speech-language therapy and school psychology.
New MOESC professionals will also benefit from direct, individualized mentoring from the experienced consultants, ensuring strong support as they begin their practice.
Further, the Consultants are spearheading Think Tanks on critical workforce shortages in both school psychology and speech-language pathology, fostering collaboration among higher education, practitioners and state leaders.
By cultivating university partnerships and advancing workforce pipelines, these efforts underscore MOESC’s leadership in innovative problem-solving and workforce development.