A Senate committee voted to agree to a committee substitute for Senate Bill 199 that requires kindergarten through sixth-grade students exhibiting violent, threatening or intimidating behavior to be referred to a school counselor, school social worker or school psychologist for a functional behavioral assessment and prioritized, evidence-based interventions.

The substitute, explained to the committee by committee counsel Hank, would require an initial behavioral plan to be followed for two weeks and reevaluated; if the student does not show adequate progress, school leaders and the behavioral professional would determine whether to amend the plan. If a first amendment fails after another two-week period, the bill directs placement in a county behavioral intervention program or with a licensed behavioral health agency the county can access, or removal from the classroom and suspension while alternative learning accommodations are made.

The committee substitute also sets procedures for immediate steps after an incident: if a county lacks access to a behavioral intervention program, the student must be removed from the classroom after the incident, kept separate from other students for the rest of the school day, and parents must be notified to pick the student up by day’s end; if a student must ride the bus home, the bill requires the principal, vice principal or a designee to supervise that trip. The substitute provides for suspensions of one to three school days while alternate instruction is arranged and allows virtual-school or homebound options. A student with an IEP must be referred immediately to the appropriate team (Student Assistance Team, Section 504 team or IEP team), and the substitute includes an explicit statement that nothing in the section is intended to conflict with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or Section 504.

If a removed student is to return, the substitute requires a risk assessment before return; any provisional return would last five to ten school days, and repeated incidents within that period could trigger ordinary expulsion procedures. The substitute directs the State Board to promulgate a statewide disciplinary policy but allows counties or schools with behavior interventionists to apply for a waiver if they show continued positive educational progress under their existing policies.

Committee members extensively questioned operational details, including who must conduct the bus supervision, whether counties uniformly employ school psychologists to complete risk assessments, the time frame for completing county-level risk assessments, whether counties would be required to establish brick-and-mortar alternative learning centers, and whether the bill created unfunded mandates. Counsel said the bill does not require a county to build facilities and that counties could cooperate with neighboring districts or use virtual/homebound options. Counsel and senators also confirmed the bill permits referral for functional behavioral analysis under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act when appropriate.

Senators voiced both concern and support. The senator identified as the Senior Senator from the Thirteenth said the bill addresses violent behavior that has injured educators and disrupts learning, and praised what she described as the chair’s persistence on the issue; she said she expects the policy to help classrooms and hoped for positive results in a few years. Other senators said the substitute is an imperfect but necessary first step that gives educators new tools while acknowledging a need for more behavioral interventionists and funding. The sponsor and committee counsel said counties must complete short-term risk assessments within the suspension window (one to three days) to avoid keeping students out of school longer than necessary.

The committee agreed to the committee substitute by voice vote; the chair declared, “the ayes have it. I declare the motion adopted and the committee substitute has been agreed to.” The vice chair then moved that the committee report the substitute to the full Senate with a recommendation that it do pass; that motion was also adopted by voice vote.

The bill text as explained to the committee contains several timing and procedural benchmarks (two-week review cycles for behavioral plans; one to three days of suspension while alternate instruction is set up; a five- to ten-day provisional return period after risk assessment). The substitute also leaves some implementation details to districts and county boards (for example, how exactly risk assessments are staffed and the process a county uses to access behavioral intervention programs).