School committee refers proposed budget transfer for behavior technicians to finance and operations after questions

The committee considered a proposed budget transfer to move funds from teacher salaries to contracted services to hire one registered behavior technician (RBT) for each of Donahue, Morgan and STEM to support the ABL program.

A committee member raised concerns about taking money from teacher salaries and asked why internal candidates (behavior technicians or BTs seeking RBT registration) were not being prioritized for these positions. Administration said the district has attempted to hire internally and that, where internal candidates exist, the district would reduce the contracted portion of service. The superintendent said the district has worked with vendor Stepping Stones for years to fill gaps and would negotiate contract adjustments should internal candidates be hired.

Given procedural questions about whether the item should be vetted by the finance committee first, the maker withdrew a direct approval motion and instead moved to refer the transfer to the finance and operations subcommittee for review and a recommendation. The referral motion carried.

Committee members requested written clarifications on hiring postings and whether the district is advertising for RBTs versus BTs and asked that finance include conditions about contract reduction if internal hires are made.

Next steps: finance and operations subcommittee will review the proposal, request documentation on postings and vendor arrangements, and return a recommendation to the full committee.