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District says behavior specialist program kept most students in general education settings
Summary
The district’s District Behavior Specialist (DBS) team provided data showing 76 deployments last year, 39 of which were direct supports for individual students; staff said 88% of students who received DBS support maintained their federal mainstreaming setting.
The board received an overview of the district behavior specialist (DBS) program and its outcomes. Sunny Versch, the director of student services, described how the DBS team is deployed on referrals (for students demonstrating new or intense behaviors or when building teams need additional support) and explained the program’s goals and staffing.
"This past school year, our DBSs were called upon 76 times. Thirty-nine of those were provided to provide direct support to individual students… 88 percent of students last year that received support from DBS maintained their federal setting," Versch said. She added that the team includes five teachers and four ESPs and that the program also supports sites by recommending professional development, accommodations and behavior supports.
Versch offered concrete examples of interventions—adding visual cues on exit doors and a consistent staff script for staff to use with a nonverbal student who repeatedly tried to leave the building—and said those measures helped the student remain safely in school. Board members praised the results and asked for additional examples and data to humanize the metrics for public reporting.
