Parents accuse district of imposing behavioral plans without required assessments or consent
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Summary
Multiple public commenters told the board that students at Douglas High School were placed on behavioral intervention plans (BIPs) without functional behavioral assessments or parental consent and cited IDEA, Section 504 and a prior OCR/state agreement requiring written consent; they asked the board to review implementation and retrain staff.
Several parents used the board’s public‑comment period to raise procedural and civil‑rights concerns about behavioral intervention plans (BIPs) in the district.
Janice Howard said her ninth‑grade son at Douglas High School was placed on a BIP after a single incident "without parental consent and without any functional behavioral assessment and without an IEP team decision." She told the board those steps are required under federal special‑education law and related Nevada administrative code and urged a district‑wide review and staff retraining. "Parents have the right to participate. Students have the right to fair treatment," Howard said.
John Gunter followed Howard and referenced a 2023 state complaint and OCR docket 8241182. He said the district had previously been ordered to remove an illegal BIP and retrain administrators and warned the board that repeat failures could prompt another state complaint or federal civil‑rights litigation.
Board members acknowledged the seriousness of the claims and asked the superintendent to research prior agreements and procedural history; trustees requested that staff report back with findings. The transcript records public commenters urging transparent explanations and specific remedies, but the board did not take formal action on any individual case during this meeting.