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Board reviews 'Busy' digital PBIS pilot, flags equity and funding questions
Summary
Staff described a proposed contract (not to exceed $200,000) for the Busy PBIS incentive system that automates token banking and links to FOCUS; board members asked how Title I funding rules, login rates and fundraising capacity affect equitable access.
At the agenda committee meeting Nov. 4, staff described the Busy program — a digital PBIS token and rewards platform — and recommended a contract not to exceed $200,000 to cover participating pilot schools. Staff said Busy pulls data each night from the district’s FOCUS system for attendance and grades and allows schools to run electronic incentive stores.
Vice Chair Joyce and other board members pressed staff on equity concerns: because many participating pilot campuses used Title I funds or fundraising to pay for items in the Busy store, non‑Title I schools could face barriers if they lack friends‑groups or partners to fund purchases. Staff and program leads said Title I funds may not be supplanted by general fund dollars and that schools may use grants or fundraising to participate; they agreed to bring back lists of participating schools, school‑level quotes and login/use statistics broken out by elementary, middle and high school.
Board members also asked for clearer financial‑impact charts that show fund sources and for sample quotes from individual school implementations to help other principals estimate the buy‑in required. “I’d like to see the distribution and then how that might affect how we plan for or encourage that ELL professional development,” one board member said in a related conversation about program distribution; for Busy, members asked for retention and fund‑raising metrics from pilot schools.
Staff said personalization of stores and modest local fundraising or philanthropic support are common approaches; they also suggested the district foundation could be a vehicle to secure larger donations for incentive inventories. The committee did not vote on the contract during the agenda review; staff will return with requested budget and participation details.
