Maryland Behavior Intervention Plan: What the Law Requires and What to Do When Schools Fall Short

When a child with a disability has behaviors that interfere with their learning or the learning of others, Maryland law doesn't leave the response to chance. The Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) requires the IEP team to conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and, based on those findings, develop a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP). These aren't optional add-ons — they are legally required components of a compliant IEP when the behavioral trigger is present.

Despite this legal clarity, parents consistently encounter BIPs that are vague, ineffective, or simply not implemented. Understanding what a Maryland BIP must include — and what you can do when the school gets it wrong — is essential advocacy knowledge.

When Is a BIP Required Under COMAR?

Maryland follows the federal IDEA standard for FBA and BIP requirements, with additional behavioral intervention protections under COMAR 13A.08.04 (Student Behavior Interventions).

An FBA and BIP are required in the following circumstances:

When behavior is impeding learning. If an IEP team determines that a student's behavior is impeding their own learning or the learning of other students, COMAR requires the team to consider positive behavioral interventions, supports, and strategies — including a formal FBA and BIP — and address them in the IEP.

Following a disciplinary removal. Under IDEA's disciplinary provisions, if a student with an IEP is removed from their placement for more than 10 school days in a school year, the IEP team must conduct a Manifestation Determination Review. If the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the disability, the IEP team must conduct an FBA (if one hasn't been done) and develop or review the BIP.

Upon a formal request. If a parent believes their child's behavior is significantly impacting their education and requests an FBA and BIP in writing, the school cannot simply dismiss the request. Like other evaluation requests, a written request for a behavioral assessment puts the district on notice.

Many Maryland schools conduct informal behavioral interventions without formally documenting them as a BIP. This approach is legally insufficient when the COMAR trigger has been met. An informal "behavior plan" that isn't incorporated into the IEP carries no legal enforceability — the IEP team cannot be held accountable for a document that doesn't exist.

What a Maryland FBA Must Cover

The Functional Behavior Assessment is the diagnostic foundation of the BIP. It answers one core question: what function does this behavior serve for the child?

All behavior serves a function. Common behavioral functions include: gaining attention (from peers or adults), escaping a non-preferred task or environment, accessing a desired item or activity, or sensory regulation. A child who flips a desk to get out of a math worksheet has different underlying needs than a child who does the same thing to get peer attention. A BIP that doesn't identify the correct function will fail.

A Maryland FBA should include:

• Direct observation of the student in multiple settings where the behavior occurs — not just a review of teacher reports
• Identification of antecedents: what happens immediately before the behavior that triggers it (specific academic tasks, transitions, sensory stimuli, time of day, peer interactions)
• Identification of consequences: what happens after the behavior that reinforces it (removal from class, peer laughter, adult attention, task avoidance)
• Frequency, duration, and intensity data collected over a meaningful observation period
• Hypothesis about behavioral function: a specific, testable conclusion about why the behavior occurs
• Review of relevant records: medical history, previous behavioral assessments, teacher observations, parent input

An FBA conducted in a single 30-minute observation session with no direct parent input is inadequate. Push back on superficial assessments. Your right to an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) applies to behavioral evaluations: if you disagree with the district's FBA, you can request an IEE from a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) at public expense.

What a Maryland BIP Must Contain

Once the FBA is complete, the BIP is developed by the IEP team to address the behavioral function identified in the assessment. A legally compliant and educationally meaningful BIP under COMAR must include:

1. Replacement behaviors. The BIP must teach the student an appropriate alternative behavior that serves the same function as the problematic behavior. If the child is escaping math tasks by being disruptive, the BIP must teach an appropriate escape mechanism — raising a hand to request a break, asking for help, using a self-regulation strategy. Telling a child to "stop the behavior" without providing a functional alternative is not a behavior plan; it's a wish.

2. Positive behavioral supports. Maryland COMAR explicitly emphasizes positive behavioral supports as the primary intervention approach. The BIP should heavily prioritize reinforcement of positive behavior over punitive responses to negative behavior.

3. Environmental modifications. The BIP must address antecedents — what can be changed in the environment to make the triggering conditions less intense? Shorter task segments, structured transition warnings, sensory accommodations, modified seating, visual schedules.

4. Crisis response protocol. If the student's behavior can escalate to a safety issue, the BIP must include specific crisis response procedures. This is where Maryland's restraint and seclusion regulations intersect with the BIP: any use of physical restraint or seclusion must be documented, reported, and reviewed by the IEP team. The BIP should explicitly minimize reliance on these interventions and describe the progressive de-escalation steps that must be tried first.

5. Progress monitoring. The BIP must specify how success will be measured. What data will be collected, how frequently, and by whom? How will the team know the plan is working?

6. Roles and responsibilities. Who implements each component of the BIP? All staff who work with the student must know the plan and be trained to implement it consistently. An IEP that sits in a file while classroom teachers are unaware of the BIP is useless.

The BIP Must Be Part of the IEP

This is a point parents often miss: a Behavior Intervention Plan is not a separate document that lives in a different folder. It must be incorporated into the IEP itself. Under COMAR 13A.05.01.09, the IEP must address behavioral needs when they are impeding learning, and the BIP is the mechanism for doing so.

If a school creates a BIP as an informal, standalone document that isn't embedded in the IEP, there are no legal enforcement mechanisms if it isn't followed. A BIP in the IEP can be enforced through MSDE state complaints, due process hearings, and compensatory education claims. An informal behavioral agreement cannot.

Always ask at IEP meetings: "Is the BIP incorporated into the IEP document?" If the answer is no, request that it be added.

When Schools Rely on Restraint Instead of BIP Implementation

Maryland has specific regulations governing the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools, governed by COMAR 13A.08.04. Physical restraint is only permitted in Maryland as a last resort when a student's behavior poses an imminent threat of serious physical harm to themselves or others. It cannot be used as a routine behavioral intervention, as a punishment, or as a replacement for a properly implemented BIP.

Each use of physical restraint in a Maryland school must be documented, and families must be notified within a specific timeframe. If your child has been physically restrained more than once, the IEP team is required to meet and review the BIP — because repeated restraint use is a strong indicator that the current behavioral support plan is not working.

If your child is being restrained frequently and the school hasn't convened the IEP team or updated the BIP, file a state complaint with MSDE and request an emergency IEP meeting. Restraint data that isn't triggering BIP review is a systemic failure that warrants escalation.

Getting the BIP Right: Practical Steps for Maryland Parents

Request all FBA documentation before the BIP meeting. Under Maryland's five-day rule (Education Article § 8-405), you must receive the FBA report and draft BIP at least five business days before the meeting. Use that time to review whether the behavioral function was correctly identified.

Ask who conducted the FBA. A meaningful FBA should be led by a Behavior Intervention Specialist or BCBA, not a classroom teacher with no behavioral assessment training. Ask for the credentials of the person who conducted the assessment.

Request implementation data. If a BIP has been in place for more than a few months, ask for the behavior tracking data. Is the target behavior decreasing? Is the replacement behavior increasing? If there's no data, the BIP is not being monitored as required.

Invoke your IEE rights for FBA disagreements. If the school's FBA identified the wrong behavioral function or missed key antecedents, request an independent FBA at public expense. The same 30-day response window applies as for any IEE request.

The Maryland IEP & 504 Blueprint includes guidance on requesting FBAs and reviewing BIPs, with the specific COMAR references for behavioral IEP components and the documentation you need when filing a state complaint about behavioral plan implementation failures.

A BIP Is a Tool, Not a Punishment System

The most important frame shift for Maryland parents navigating behavioral IEP issues: a well-constructed BIP is not a punishment framework or a list of consequences for bad behavior. It is a teaching document. It teaches the child a new, functional behavior to replace the problematic one, and it teaches school staff how to respond in ways that reduce the problem behavior rather than reinforce it.

When BIPs fail, it is almost always because they are focused on punishing behavior rather than teaching alternatives, because the behavioral function was incorrectly identified, or because implementation is inconsistent. Any of these failures gives you grounds to reconvene the IEP team and demand a revised approach.

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