Rantoul City SD 137 board approves MTSS behavior‑specialist job description after extended debate on discipline and supports

The Rantoul City SD 137 Board of Education on a unanimous vote approved an administrative job description for a district MTSS (multi‑tiered system of supports) behavior specialist, a position district leaders say is intended to align behavior expectations and provide tiered supports and coaching to staff.

District administrators described the role as a hub that would create consistent tier‑one expectations across buildings, develop tier‑two interventions for students who need additional supports, and coordinate tier‑three behavior support plans for a small subset of students with more extreme needs. "The idea behind this position is to start to address that need by leading the development and implementation of a district‑wide multi‑tiered system of support for behavior specifically," the administration said during the presentation.

Supporters said the specialist would not immediately add net new staff but would reassign or reorganize existing certified and non‑certified personnel and create a team to provide on‑site coaching and modeling. The position was described as administrative to provide supervisory authority over staff who would work with the specialist.

Board members and community speakers pressed administrators on practical details: how the specialist would change entrenched student behaviors, how the role would operate across multiple schools, how substitutes would be supported, and whether parent engagement would be guaranteed at tier‑two and tier‑three meetings. One board member asked bluntly what a single district‑level specialist would do differently for students who already 'bite, hit, [and] spit' in classrooms and who, the member said, have not responded to existing approaches.

Administrators answered that the specialist would focus primarily on K–5 next year, provide classroom‑level coaching and modeling for staff, help identify antecedents and triggers for behaviors, and convene school‑based teams that include social workers and parent liaisons. They emphasized the role would standardize practice so that the majority of students respond to consistent adult expectations, freeing intensive supports for students who require individualized plans.

After the discussion, the board moved, seconded and recorded a roll‑call vote in favor of approving the job description.

What happens next: administrators said they plan to finalize job descriptions for reallocated positions, develop implementation details and convene a family/community committee to review the behavior code before the end of the school year.

Vote: The board recorded unanimous approval of the MTSS behavior‑specialist job description.