Yuma Elementary board reviews discipline policies; parents press for access to outside therapists for special‑needs students

At a meeting of the Yuma Elementary School District 1 governing board, district staff presented an overview of student discipline procedures and plans for a pilot program to address repetitive disruptive behavior, while parents and outside providers urged the board to clarify whether contracted therapists may continue providing in‑school services for students with autism.

Miss Lebonis, a district staff member who presented the discipline overview, described the district’s framework as rooted in PBIS — positive behavioral interventions and supports — and said the goal is to “create a safe and positive learning environment” and to teach expected behaviors campus by campus. “At the foundational level, all of our schools work under what we consider PBIS,” she said.

The presentation summarized how classroom‑level interventions, referral forms and administrative responses (lunch/recess detentions, on‑campus support, loss of privileges, parent conferences and, as a last resort, suspension) are used on a progressive basis when behavior persists. Lebonis said recommended disciplinary ranges differ by grade: younger students are treated with a stronger emphasis on instruction and intervention, while middle‑school incidents may warrant more immediate consequences.

The presenter also described a district effort to pilot a program this school year aimed at students whose nonviolent but repetitive behaviors materially disrupt instruction. Lebonis said administrators, counselors and teachers have provided input and that the district plans to involve parents in any pilot placements: “having parent partnership for any of the students that will…