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Parent asks board to ensure licensed supervision of behavioral supports for students with autism
Summary
A parent and advocate told the board that autism-support and behavior-assistant staff in the district are not receiving required supervision from a licensed board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) and asked the board to ensure behavioral services are provided under appropriate professional oversight.
During the public-comment period Oct. 13, Amber Ford spoke to the board about supervision and licensure for behavioral supports. Ford said that while speech, occupational and other therapies are supervised by licensed clinicians, behavior-support staff (autism support technicians and registered behavior technicians) do not have a supervising BCBA in the district.
"When a child struggles to communicate, participate, self-regulate, or remain safely in the classroom, that's not a matter of preference," Ford told the board. "ABA is a field of science with evidence-based support and must be provided and supervised by licensed professionals as recognized by law."
Ford asked the board to review the district's practice and to ensure behavior supports are supervised at the same professional standard applied to other special-education services.
Superintendent Jeff James acknowledged the complexity of special-education funding and staffing and thanked Ford for raising the concern; the superintendent and staff did not give an immediate operational response during the comment period but noted the district would continue to work on compliance and service delivery.
