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District highlights PBIS rollout: "safe, kind and responsible" expectations and targeted supports
Summary
District staff described Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) work across elementary and secondary schools, citing decreased office visits and tiered supports, while noting resource limits for targeted interventions.
District staff presented an update on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and how schools in the Cache County School District are implementing the framework to reduce disruptions and teach behavioral expectations.
Joe Cottrell described PBIS as an "evidence based, tiered framework" that emphasizes teaching consistent expectations across school locations, recognizing students for meeting expectations and providing targeted supports for students who need more help. As an example of expectation language, Cottrell said some schools use a set of guiding values such as being "safe, kind and responsible." He explained teachers teach what those expectations look like in classrooms, halls, cafeterias and on playgrounds.
Cottrell cited research and local observations that PBIS implementation is associated with fewer office visits for discipline and improved pro-social behaviors; he noted national research showing students in PBIS schools are "33% less likely to visit the office" for discipline. He said the district has begun PBIS walkthroughs at elementary schools, offers coaching to school PBIS teams, and is seeing many schools implement components of PBIS.
He described tiered responses: universal instruction and recognition for most students, targeted interventions (check-in/check-out, mentoring, token economies and social-skills groups) for a smaller number of students, and individual progress monitoring. Cottrell said about 90–95% of students typically respond to whole-school systems and a smaller share need targeted supports.
Board members asked about grade-level trends; Cottrell said increases are visible in minor behaviors district-wide and that kindergarten is an area where social-communication delays are producing escalations such as eloping or shouting. He said the district has data (the KEEP social-emotional screening) showing growth over a school year, including for students in all-day kindergarten, and that the screening showed significant positive gains after sustained instruction.
Cottrell acknowledged challenges: PBIS requires time, coaching and staff resources, and administrators and counselors must add this work to existing duties. He recommended continuing coaching and monitoring implementation fidelity.
