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Beaverton SD 48J presents MTSS strategy as expulsions fall and leaders pledge clearer data and supports
Summary
District leaders told the Beaverton School Board that exclusionary-discipline rates are low and expulsions have declined while outlining MTSS tiers, staff training (about 1,400 TBRI participants), a contracted hearings administrator and a district behavior support grid; board members pressed for disaggregated data, clearer charts and continuity amid budget cuts.
Beaverton SD 48J officials briefed the school board on April 14 on the district's multi-tiered approach to student supports and their efforts to reduce exclusionary discipline, saying expulsions have fallen and that prevention, relationships and calibrated responses are central.
Dr. Regiani, a district teaching-and-learning leader, opened by asking the board to rethink "discipline" as the tracking and measurement of behaviors that should strengthen connection rather than serve as punitive control. "We're talking about connection," Dr. Regiani said, adding that behavior data are one part of a larger system of care intended to "help us see patterns, notice the different needs that our students have and give us the ability to respond with intention."
The district described its MTSS (multi-tiered system of support) framework as the organizing approach: tier one serves roughly 80 to 90 percent of students with universal supports; tier two targets about 5 to 15 percent with small-group interventions; and tier three offers intensive individualized supports for roughly 1 to 5 percent, with decisions guided by consistent data and team-based problem solving.
Presenters said district charts show exclusionary-discipline incidents at 1.2 percent for elementary students, 4.5 percent for middle-school students and 2.6 percent for high-school students in 2025–26, all under the district's 5 percent tier-three guide. They also reported downward trends in expulsions since the 2022'23 school year and credited prevention work, restorative practices and the new hearings-administrator layer for part of that decline.
Lori Crum, Executive Director of Student Services, said the district added contracted, retired administrators this year to serve as hearings administrators who are neutral to the school community: "We're finding that that is the place where some of the restoration is happening and students are making choices and adults are responding to the choices," she said. The district also created a behavior support grid to help administrators calibrate responses across schools.
Leaders described training and capacity-building as a major pillar: trust-based relational intervention (TBRI) and restorative-practices training have been offered districtwide, and presenters said about 1,400 staff participated in TBRI over the past two years. The district said it conducts equity modules for certified and many classified staff and is expanding training availability, including family sessions and a planned bilingual trainer to improve first-language access.
Presenters flagged areas for further review: exclusionary-discipline instances for students with disabilities and English learners rose in 2025'26 and together represented roughly 2 percent of the district population this year. The district urged more granular analysis to identify disparities and targeted interventions.
Board members pressed for clarification on several points. Chair Garg asked whether dual-language schools show higher or lower rates for Hispanic and Latino students; the district said it will disaggregate the data for dual-language programs and follow up. Director Carson asked about the word "discipline" and about the district survey methodology; Crum said "student exclusionary discipline" is the state's reporting term but that locally the district uses terms such as "response," "restorative practices" and MTSS because the language matters for families and staff. The presenters described the district's own year-to-year student survey and plans for more frequent sampling and "empathy interviews" to capture student-level context.
Several board members noted that some charts use incident counts rather than percentages and can be misleading without clear labels. District staff acknowledged the presentation could improve labeling and context; they clarified one slide showed approximately 375 incidents out of ~37,000 students and agreed to provide percentage-based views and clearer legends. Members also raised a coding concern: elementary incidents sometimes appear under the code "assault" because that is the closest option in the code of conduct, which can overstate severity; the district said it is reviewing coding choices.
On the budget front, board members asked how the district will protect these supports amid planned cuts. Presenters said the central leadership team and the SAM (school allocation model) committee are reviewing staffing allocations to preserve core student-support functions as much as possible.
The board did not take formal votes at the work session. The district said it will follow up with requested disaggregated data for dual-language programs, clearer charts that show percentages, and additional information about training saturation and coding clarifications. The work session was adjourned at 6:52 p.m.
Ending: The presentation signaled continued emphasis on prevention, relationships and staff capacity; the board requested tighter data displays and targeted follow-ups before any policy changes are proposed.
