Pasco School District describes growing role for Board Certified Behavior Analysts
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Summary
The district told the board it added a third Board Certified Behavior Analyst this year and is using BCBAs to build staff capacity, provide assessments and guide interventions under an MTSS framework.
Tracy Wilson of the district's special education team told the Pasco School Board on March 24 that Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) are becoming an important in-house resource to support students with complex behavioral needs.
"BCBAs bring specialized training in behavior assessment and intervention, allowing us to better support students whose behaviors may be impacting their learning," Wilson said. She described BCBAs' duties as conducting functional behavior assessments, developing behavior intervention plans, using data to design supports, coaching staff, and supervising behavior technicians and paraprofessionals.
Wilson said Washington formally recognized school behavior analysts as educational staff associates in 2019 and that Pasco added its first two BCBAs in the 2024'1 school year and expanded to a third this year to strengthen internal capacity and reduce reliance on outside providers.
In board questioning, members asked how BCBAs are assigned to schools and how many Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) the district employs. Wilson said BCBAs are assigned regionally to build rapport with schools and that the district currently has "between 4 to 8" RBTs, with supervision ratios varying by intensity of needs. She said industry standards often range from five to seven RBTs per BCBA depending on caseload complexity and the level of intervention required.
Wilson described BCBAs' role within the district's MTSS framework: they join school teams when a student's needs exceed core and targeted supports, help design individualized plans, guide data collection, and coach staff to implement interventions with fidelity.
Board members thanked Wilson and noted the role's potential to improve outcomes and reduce the need for restrictive interventions.
