Behavioral Intervention Plan in South Dakota: What Parents Need to Know

Your child has been suspended three times this month for behavior the school calls "defiant" or "disruptive." Each time, you get a phone call, maybe a short-term suspension, and a promise that they're "working on it." What you haven't received is any formal plan for how the school will address the behavior—and that gap is costing your child instruction time and may be violating federal law.

A Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP) is a legally enforceable document that must be included in an IEP when a child's behavior is interfering with their learning or the learning of others. Here is what South Dakota parents need to know about requesting one, what it must contain, and what to do when the school is using discipline as a substitute for genuine behavioral support.

The BIP and FBA Relationship: You Cannot Have One Without the Other

Before a BIP can be written, the school must conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA). The FBA is the diagnostic step—it identifies the function of the behavior (attention-seeking, escape-motivated, sensory-driven, communication-based) and collects data on antecedents and consequences. The BIP is the intervention plan built from that assessment.

Under IDEA and South Dakota's implementing rules (ARSD 24:05), IEP teams are required to consider behavioral interventions, supports, and strategies for any student whose behavior impedes their own learning or that of others. When the behavior is serious enough—or when a student with a disability faces disciplinary removal beyond ten school days—federal law specifically requires the team to conduct an FBA and develop a BIP if one does not already exist.

The practical implication: if your child has a disability and is being repeatedly sent home, suspended, or removed from the classroom without an FBA and BIP, the district may be violating IDEA. You have the right to request both in writing.

What a Legally Sound BIP Must Include

Not every document a school calls a "behavior plan" meets the legal standard of a BIP. A compliant BIP should include:

A clear description of the target behavior — Specific enough to be observed and measured. "Is defiant" is not sufficient. "Leaves the classroom without permission an average of four times per day" is.

Hypothesis from the FBA — The function the behavior serves for the child. If the behavior is escape-motivated (the child acts out to avoid a difficult task), the intervention must address that function—not just punish the behavior.

Proactive strategies — Environmental and instructional modifications to prevent the behavior from occurring in the first place. This might include seating changes, modified task length, sensory breaks, or pre-teaching transitions.

Teaching replacement behaviors — The BIP must identify what behavior the school is teaching the child to use instead. Simply suppressing a behavior without replacing it rarely works.

Consequence strategies — How staff will respond when the target behavior occurs, with an emphasis on consistency.

Data collection method — How the school will track whether the BIP is working and at what frequency the data will be reviewed.

Responsible parties — Which staff members are responsible for implementing each component.

If the district hands you a document with vague language, no data collection plan, and no replacement behavior instruction, you can legitimately challenge whether it constitutes a legally sufficient BIP.

How to Request a BIP in South Dakota

Send a written request to the Special Education Director (not just the classroom teacher) asking for:

1. A Functional Behavior Assessment
2. Development of a Behavioral Intervention Plan to be incorporated into your child's IEP

Your request triggers the same evaluation timeline that applies to any special education evaluation: once you give written consent, the district has 25 school days under ARSD 24:05:25:03 to complete the FBA. The eligibility and IEP meeting (where the BIP would be written) must then happen within 30 calendar days.

Keep a copy of everything you send, and follow up any verbal conversations with an email confirmation. The paper trail matters enormously in South Dakota, where the small size of many districts means decisions are sometimes made informally in hallway conversations rather than through documented IEP processes.

When the School Is Using Discipline Without a BIP

South Dakota's state complaint records include cases where districts used repeated informal removals—sending children home early, calling parents to pick up children, or keeping children out of classrooms—without triggering the disciplinary protections that would require a Manifestation Determination Review (MDR).

Under IDEA, when a student with a disability is removed for more than ten school days cumulatively in a school year, the district must convene an MDR to determine whether the behavior was caused by or directly related to the disability. Informal removals—sending a child home "voluntarily"—are still removals under the law if they happen repeatedly. A 2020 state complaint in South Dakota found a district had issued eleven transportation suspensions in three months without treating any of them as changes in placement.

If your child is being informally pushed out of school through early dismissals or parent pickups rather than formal suspensions, document every instance with dates and times. This documentation becomes the basis for a state complaint or due process claim.

The Rural Reality: BIPs in Districts Without Behavioral Specialists

Many of South Dakota's 195 school districts serve fewer than 500 students, and most do not employ a dedicated behavior specialist. The Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC) and similar regional cooperatives provide contracted behavioral support services—but availability is limited, and itinerant specialists may visit a district only once or twice per week.

When a district lacks internal capacity to implement a BIP with fidelity, that is a district problem, not your child's problem. The district remains legally responsible for ensuring that whatever behavioral support is mandated by the IEP is actually delivered. If they cannot deliver it through cooperative services, they may need to fund external behavioral consultants or, in more severe cases, an out-of-district placement where intensive behavioral support is available.

The South Dakota IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/south-dakota/advocacy/ includes templates for requesting FBAs and BIPs in writing, as well as guidance on documenting disciplinary removals and escalating to the SD DOE when a district is using behavior management as a substitute for legally required services.

See more United States guides →