Berkeley County Schools staff described a pilot program intended to provide intensive, wrap‑around interventions for students with extreme behaviors and urged additional staffing to reduce out‑of‑district placements.

Staff presentation and pilot: Speaker 11 described a test pilot "over Tesco" (pilot site name per transcript). The pilot ran with three students in the morning and three in the afternoon and relies on behavior technicians (RBTs) and Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) to focus first on behavior rather than academics. Staff said the pilot aims to reduce expensive out‑of‑county placements and provide earlier intervention for students with significant needs. The staff estimate for a larger focused classroom was discussed at about $160,000 (staff figure cited during discussion).

Principals' request for facilitators and counselors: principals who addressed the board pressed for more school‑based supports. The Principal Association representative (Speaker 12) said principals originally requested nine student facilitators; after discussion they sought a compromise of three additional facilitators. Principals also argued for adding full‑time counselors in primary schools, noting several elementary/intermediate schools currently operate with part‑time or shared counselors. One principal said, "I have 43% of my school in special education," and described the strain on a single assistant principal who must chair IEP meetings and handle 5.04 plans.

Why it matters: board members and staff linked the requests to federal compliance and to costly out‑of‑district placements. Staff noted current out‑of‑state placement spending (the transcript references a past figure of ~$370,000 receipts tied to out‑of‑county placements) and long wait lists for residential placements. Staff emphasized the program is not a guaranteed cost saver and called it an "intervention" to try to return students to schools when possible.

Board response: principals asked for prioritization. Board members signaled willingness to consider three facilitators and added counseling positions in the draft plan while asking staff for a detailed allocation plan showing which schools would receive positions and how splits (halftime vs. full‑time) would work.

Ending: staff said they will work with the principals association to finalize a staffing allocation plan and bring the proposal back as part of the budget adoption process.