An analysis of 270 publicly authorized professional service rates across 23 Union County school districts reveals wide variation within the same service categories — drawn entirely from board-voted resolutions and public meeting minutes.
Every time a New Jersey school board hires a vendor — whether a speech therapist, a board attorney, or a district physician — it votes publicly and records the rate. Districts negotiate these contracts independently, and in most categories, authorized rates span a 2× to 3× range across districts within the same county.
This analysis includes 270 authorized rates from 7 service categories across 23 Union County school districts, drawn from publicly approved contracts. Because districts negotiate independently, cross-district benchmarks can serve as a practical starting point before contract renewals or competitive bidding.
BCBA contract rates ranged from $100 to $361 per hour — a 3.6× difference across neighboring districts. Even excluding the regional shared-service ceiling, rates still varied more than 3× from $100 to $300.
Each dot represents one board-authorized rate from one district's public resolution. The shaded band shows the interquartile range (middle 50% of contracts). The vertical line marks the county median. Rates are as approved by the board of education.
Regional shared-service therapy rates appear at the upper end of the distribution in each category, with OT and PT reaching roughly 2–3× county medians.
One physical therapy agency was authorized at $97/hr in one district and $176/hr in another in the same year — an 81% gap for the same vendor in the same county.
Physician annual fees show the widest spread in the dataset, ranging from $1,600 to $34,000, though contract scope may differ substantially.
Board attorney partner rates are the most uniform category: 35 of 100 authorized rates sit at exactly $170/hr. But outliers at $225–$245/hr show that some districts authorize rates 40%+ above the cluster.
District physicians are contracted at an annual flat fee — not an hourly rate. Fees range from $1,600 to $34,000 across Union County districts. Physician contracts may differ in scope, on-call requirements, and included services, so this category should be interpreted more cautiously than standardized hourly rates.
Cross-district benchmarks turn scattered public resolutions into a single view of pricing ranges by service category, giving districts a clearer starting point for reviewing rates. Medians are computed from individual board-authorized rates, not district averages; footnotes mark range ceilings or differences in service scope.
| Service category | n | Min | Median | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board Attorney — Partner | 100 | $150 | $175 | $245 |
| Board Attorney — Paralegal | 20 | $75 | $100 | $160 |
| Speech-Language Pathology | 27 | $65 | $90 | $160 |
| Occupational Therapy | 33 | $58 | $90 | $210* |
| Physical Therapy | 31 | $77 | $95 | $230‡ |
| BCBA — Applied Behavior Analysis | 45 | $100 | $124 | $361† |
| District Physician (annual) | 14 | $1,600 | $12,730 | $34,000 |
† BCBA max $361/hr is a regional shared-service rate ceiling from a published range ($273–$361/hr), not a direct agency contract.
* OT max $210/hr is a regional shared-service rate. The highest direct agency contract rate is $158/hr.
‡ PT max $230/hr is a regional shared-service rate. The highest direct agency contract rate is $176/hr.
Rates contracted through regional shared-service providers are the highest in every therapy category: OT at $210/hr, PT at $230/hr, and BCBA at $273–$361/hr. These are 2–3× the county median. Districts that contract directly with agencies authorize lower rates for the same service categories.
The data includes repeated examples of the same vendor authorized at different rates across districts, including in therapy and legal categories.
In physical therapy, one agency appears in two districts in the same year at authorized rates of $97/hr and $176/hr — an 81% difference for the same vendor within the same county. Similar patterns appear in BCBA services, where one provider is authorized at rates ranging from $107/hr to $125/hr across districts.
These public resolutions document the differences in authorized rates, but do not explain whether they reflect service scope, staffing mix, or other contractual terms. Examples in this report are illustrative, not exhaustive.
Partner-level board attorney rates are the most consistent service in this dataset: 35 of 100 authorized rates are exactly $170/hr, and the middle 50% falls within $170–$195. But outlier rates reach $225–$245/hr — a 40%+ premium over the cluster. Paralegal rates span $75–$160/hr, a 2.1× range — and in some cases, authorized paralegal rates approach or exceed median therapy rates.
Board resolutions for speech therapy, occupational therapy, and BCBA services typically name an agency and authorize a rate. They do not specify the individual practitioner, minimum credentials, years of experience, or caseload constraints. The public resolutions alone do not explain the rate variation visible in the data. A district paying $160/hr for speech therapy and a district paying $65/hr may be receiving substantively different services, or they may not be. Clarifying those differences would require reviewing the full contracts and/or invoices.
Annual physician fees range from $1,600 to $34,000 as recorded in board resolutions. The median is $12,730/yr across 14 district-year observations.
All rates come from publicly available board of education meeting agendas, minutes, and attachments posted on district websites.
23 Union County school districts covering the full range of district sizes, from single-school boroughs (Garwood, Winfield Park) to large regional districts (Elizabeth, Plainfield, Scotch Plains-Fanwood). The Union County Educational Services Commission (UCESC) and Morris-Union Jointure Commission (MUJC), which serves school districts across Union County, are included as regional shared-service providers.
Board resolutions from 2024–2026. Reorganization meetings (typically held in January) are the primary source; mid-year contract amendments are included where identified.
All minimum and maximum rates in every category were manually verified against the source PDF, including page number and direct quote, before inclusion. Rejected outliers (associate rates miscategorized as partner, paraprofessionals labeled as BCBAs, AAC assessments labeled as speech therapy) were replaced with verified alternatives. Medians were chosen as the benchmark statistic because they are robust to individual data collection errors.
Per-session rates were converted to per-hour equivalents where the session length was specified in the resolution. Rates denominated annually are shown separately from hourly rates and are not converted.
Certified occupational therapy assistants (COTAs), physical therapy assistants (PTAs), speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs), and Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBAs) were excluded from their respective professional categories — these are assistant-level credentials with different training requirements and scope of practice. One-time evaluation fees, AAC specialty assessments, and Teacher of the Deaf contracts were excluded from speech therapy benchmarks. Nursing/home health agency contracts were excluded from district physician benchmarks. Telehealth platform fees were excluded from physician benchmarks. District-years where a district contracted with multiple physicians were excluded to ensure one comparable data point per district per year.
A note on interpretation: this dataset establishes what rates were authorized in public votes. It does not establish how many hours were billed at those rates, whether services were delivered as described, or whether rate differences reflect genuine service differentiation. Where two districts pay different rates to the same vendor, this report documents the gap — it does not claim to explain it.
There may be legitimate reasons why districts pay different prices within the same service categories. Because these contracts are funded with public dollars, communities benefit when the reasons for those differences are transparent and carefully reviewed. Greater visibility into peer pricing can help districts ask better questions as they review contracts, renewals, and budgets.
PriceReflect organizes publicly available school district contract data into clear benchmarks that help districts understand how their professional service rates compare with peers. Our goal is to support transparent, comparable pricing for public agencies.
This report covers Union County; a companion report for Essex County is also available. Additional county-level analyses are in development.
District leaders interested in a district-specific benchmark review may contact PriceReflect.
Questions about the report may be directed to contact@pricereflect.com.
Data: 270 board-authorized rates from 23 Union County NJ school districts · Source: public board of education meeting records, 2024–2026 · Analysis: PriceReflect · Published: March 2026
PriceReflect · Procurement benchmarking for public education · contact@pricereflect.com · pricereflect.com
This report is based solely on publicly available records. No confidential information was used. Rates reflect board authorizations and may differ from actual billed amounts.