Conway presents districtwide behavior plan, proposes RBT hires and designee positions to reduce suspensions by 10%

Conway School District administrators presented a comprehensive behavior plan that aims to reduce total disciplinary referrals and suspensions by 10% during the 2025—6 school year by strengthening tiered supports, staff training and family engagement.

Sam Carter Scott, the district—s Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), summarized the district—s approach through a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), saying, "Most of our kids will benefit from a tier 1 system. That's all that they need." The plan emphasizes a strong universal (tier 1) foundation, expanded tier 2 interventions and more tier 3 capacity for individualized behavior plans and functional behavior assessments (FBAs).

Administrators walked the board through district discipline trends and targets: total discipline incidents peaked after pandemic disruptions and stood at 10,707 last year; the board set a working target of reducing referrals and suspensions to about 9,637 (a 10% reduction). The plan prioritizes reductions in classroom rule violations, attendance-related referrals, disrespect toward others and staff, and verbal or physical altercations.

Staffing proposals tied to the plan include five special-education designee positions (shared across campus clusters to handle IEP paperwork and pre-conference work), two middle-school designees, nine elementary registered behavior technicians (RBTs) to provide on-campus support, a behavior facilitator and continued supervision and training led by the BCBA team. The administration said RBT onboarding will be phased in because each RBT requires supervised clinical hours and district supervision capacity.

Presenters also reviewed relevant legal and procedural frameworks the district follows, including state laws on restraint and discipline, the statutory teacher removal procedure (discussed in the meeting as Act 565), the Arkansas bullying statute, and federal protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504. Presenters emphasized that discipline decisions for students with disabilities require careful, data-driven determination of the least restrictive environment and appropriate supports.

The board received the plan as an information item; no board vote was required at the meeting. Administrators said they will begin recruitment for the described positions and will report implementation steps and data back to the board.