This year (2019), we asked our legislative representatives to put in bills in both the House and Senate that would add licensed behavior analysts (LBAs) and licensed assistant behavior analysts (LABAs) to the list of support staff that public schools can hire. While the Senate version of this legislation passed the Senate, the House chose instead to address this issue by including LBAs in House budget language dealing with positions that can be hired using At-Risk Add-on funding. During the just completed state budget conference agreement, the Senate agreed to this approach and the General Assembly passed the final version of the state budget on Sunday morning before they adjourned for the year.
This is great news and we hope schools will take advantage of what behavior analysts can offer! The explanation for the budget amendment reads as follows:
(This amendment adds additional flexibility language for school divisions to hire testing coordinators and licensed behavior analysts with At-Risk Add-on funds, which may help reduce workloads of school counselors and free-up the counselors time which then can be dedicated to supporting students’ non-academic related needs.)
To see the amendment, click here.
The budget bill will now go to the Governor for his approval. We do not expect any problems when it gets there and this language and authority for local school divisions will be effective July 1, 2019.
If you have any questions, please email admin@virginiaaba.org.