Functional Behavior Assessment in Louisiana: What Parents Need to Know

Your child is being suspended repeatedly. The school is talking about a more restrictive placement. Or maybe they keep saying your child "needs to behave better" without ever explaining why the behavior is happening. If any of that sounds familiar, a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) may be the most important tool available to you right now.

An FBA is not a punishment. It is a systematic investigation into why a student is engaging in a specific problem behavior. The goal is to identify the function — the underlying need the behavior is trying to meet — so that the IEP team can build a plan that actually addresses that need rather than just punishing the symptom.

When Louisiana Schools Are Required to Conduct an FBA

Under federal IDEA and Louisiana's Bulletin 1530, an FBA is mandatory in specific disciplinary situations:

After a Manifestation Determination that confirms the behavior is a manifestation of disability: If a student with a disability is suspended for more than 10 consecutive school days, or if a pattern of suspensions totals more than 10 days in a school year, the IEP team must hold a Manifestation Determination Review (MDR). If the team concludes that the behavior was caused by — or had a direct and substantial relationship to — the student's disability, Louisiana regulations require the team to either conduct an FBA or review and revise an existing Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).

When a student is placed in an Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES): If a student is removed to an IAES for weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury — regardless of whether the behavior was a manifestation — an FBA must be conducted.

When requested by the IEP team: Even outside of disciplinary crises, parents have the right to request an FBA at any IEP meeting when behavior is significantly impacting their child's educational progress.

Louisiana schools do not always volunteer that an FBA is required or available. If your child is receiving repeated disciplinary removals and no one has mentioned an FBA, ask in writing at the next IEP meeting.

What a Quality FBA in Louisiana Should Include

The FBA is conducted by someone trained in behavioral assessment — typically a school psychologist, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), or licensed behavior analyst. In Louisiana, Act 745 (House Bill 872) explicitly allows privately-licensed behavior analysts to provide ABA services on school grounds during the instructional day, as long as the provider carries the required liability insurance and is in good standing with the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board. This matters if you want to bring in an outside BCBA to conduct or review the FBA.

A thorough FBA includes:

• Direct observation of the student across multiple settings (classroom, hallway, lunch, specials) at different times of day
• Structured interviews with parents, teachers, and when appropriate, the student
• Review of existing data — disciplinary records, previous evaluations, academic progress monitoring, medical records
• ABC data collection: Antecedent (what happened before), Behavior (what the student did, defined precisely and objectively), and Consequence (what happened after)
• Identification of the function: Most behaviors serve one of four functions — sensory stimulation, escape/avoidance, attention-seeking, or access to tangibles/activities

A vague FBA that says "the student misbehaves when frustrated" without identifying the specific triggers and functions is not useful. If the FBA your school produced does not clearly identify the behavioral function with supporting data, you have grounds to request a more thorough evaluation or an IEE for behavioral assessment specifically.

From FBA to Behavior Intervention Plan

The FBA is the foundation for the Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP). Under Bulletin 1530, the BIP must be based on the FBA findings and included as part of the IEP. It must specify:

• The target behavior, defined in observable and measurable terms
• The identified function of the behavior
• Proactive antecedent strategies to prevent the behavior from occurring
• Teaching alternative replacement behaviors that serve the same function
• Consequences and reinforcement strategies
• Who is responsible for implementing each strategy
• How data will be collected to measure whether the plan is working

A BIP that simply says "redirect the student" or "provide verbal warnings" is not a compliant behavior intervention plan under Louisiana's standards. The plan must be functionally derived — connected to the FBA's conclusions about why the behavior is happening.

Louisiana Charter Schools and Behavioral Interventions

In New Orleans and other areas with concentrated charter school populations, behavioral problems are a primary driver of the "counseling out" practices documented in the P.B. v. Brumley federal case. Charter schools acting as their own LEAs are legally required to provide FBAs and implement BIPs, not to use zero-tolerance policies as a workaround for the cost of behavioral support.

Louisiana LDOE policy specifically prohibits charter operators from recommending that a parent seek enrollment elsewhere because the school lacks the resources to address a student's behavioral needs. If a charter school is threatening expulsion for behavior related to a disability without having conducted an FBA or implemented a BIP, that is a potential IDEA violation.

Getting an FBA When the School Isn't Moving

If your child is being disciplined frequently and the school has not initiated an FBA, send a written request to the Special Education Director and the IEP team coordinator. State that you are requesting an FBA under IDEA and Louisiana Bulletin 1530 due to behavioral challenges impacting your child's educational progress.

In the meantime, start keeping your own behavior log at home — date, time, what happened before the incident, what the behavior was, and what followed. This documentation supplements the FBA and gives the team data about patterns that only occur outside school.

The Louisiana IEP & 504 Blueprint covers the full disciplinary process — manifestation determinations, FBAs, BIPs, and how to push back when a school is using suspensions instead of support.

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