Committee hears divided testimony on bill to allow clinical ABA providers in schools

The House Education and Workforce Committee heard testimony on House Bill 50‑44, a proposal to create an explicit process for clinical, medically necessary applied behavior analysis (ABA) providers to deliver services in school settings. Supporters of the bill argued it gives families a transparent option to obtain medically prescribed services across environments; school administrators and school‑based clinicians warned the bill as written could conflict with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), create billing and staffing complications, and risk supplanting or crowding out services the district must provide under students’ IEPs.

Eric Hopstock, superintendent, Berrien Regional Education Service Agency, told the committee the bill’s definition—"any medically necessary service"—is broad and could require schools to manage a wider set of clinical services without clear guidance on how to integrate those services with IDEA‑mandated IEP procedures. Hopstock said the bill’s policy mandate that outside providers have a right to observe, collaborate with teachers, and make recommendations “will become problematic” because school teams follow prescribed data collection and decision‑making under IDEA. He provided local context: “we have about 3,600 students in Berrien County eligible for special education;…