Jim Thorpe Area School District parents want assurances their children with special needs will receive the same education if the district stops contracting some services from Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit.

School board members are exploring whether the district could take over some classes currently taught by Intermediate Unit employees. The district’s special education director says that no definitive decision has been made on the future of those classes.

Some of the parents of children in those classes told the board Wednesday night that they want to be part of any discussions over changes to IU classes.

“You can’t just replace these people,” said Ivan Markley, whose daughter is an IU student in the district.

School board members say that by hiring district teachers to cover IU classes, they could reduce the district’s multimillion dollar budget deficit.

The district says that on a per-pupil basis, it spends more for contracted services from the IU than any of the other 13 districts in the unit.

Board member TJ Garritano said that the district pays more for the IU’s teachers than it does for its own. He said they want to see if they can get the same service for the cost that it pays its own teachers.

“If we remove the IU, we’ll replace it with the same type of service, or better service,” he said.

IU parents said that there are many factors the board may not be considering.

Cassie Gray said that there is no guarantee that the district will be able to find teachers with the same specialized training as the IU.

“They have to do special things, because they’re dealing with special kids in special situations,” she said.

Amber Everett, a parent of a student who receives IU services, said the increased cost of the IU teachers is justified because of the challenges they face in the classroom. She said if the board can’t fund the services with their current budget, they have the option to raise taxes.

“They deserve that kind of pay. It’s hazard pay,” she said.

Parents also questioned board members about other cost savings measures under consideration.

Allison Priore said the board should be concerned about a high number of teachers retiring, and said the positions should be filled.

“The priority of the school board needs to be upholding the mission of our district, which is providing educational excellence,” Priore said.

Board President Scott Pompa said the teachers who are retiring are doing so because they’ve reached retirement age and choose to do so. Pompa said the district is currently at the same staffing levels it was at 10 years ago, but there are currently 570 fewer students enrolled than at that time.

Garritano added that the district needs to consider the needs of its taxpayers as well as its families and employees.

“We can’t pay for a student count of 2,200 when there’s 1,700 in the district,” he said.