Chairman Erickson opened the hearing on SB 441.

Tamera Lawrence, Assistant Revisor, Office of the Revisor of Statute, gave a brief overview of the bill. (Attachment 1)

Proponent:

Senator Kenny Titus, District 18, stated this bill was brought forward on behalf of parents that have been denied the opportunity to provide appropriate services for their children. This bill allows the provision of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to children on the autism spectrum during the regular school hours. The services are entirely paid for by the parents and cost the school district nothing. Often, the weekly hours of services required for children cannot be met entirely outside of classroom instructional time, so it is a necessity to allow these services during instructional time. While it is necessary to allow these services in the classroom, we have drafted this legislation to provide complete immunity to school districts from any liability from allowing third-party ABA providers into the classroom.(Attachment 2)

Holly Creamer, BCBA Heartland ABA, explained that ABA is a science-based approach to understanding how an individual best learns and what is affecting their behavior. Classrooms can be very confusing for youth with autism because of social expectations, communication demands, transitions, noise, visual stimuli, and new academic pressures. This bill would allow medically necessary ABA services to be delivered in schools by qualified professionals so that children and their parents do not have to choose between their education and their therapy. ABA supports daily classroom life by using positive reinforcement, structure, and consistent teaching strategies. (Attachment 3)

Trista Fergerson, BCBA, LBA, Perfect Fit Therapy Clinic Director, Vice President -Kansas Grassroots Autism Service Providers, explained she is an Autism Mom and told the Committee the history of her son's history. The brain of a child with Autism is affected so greatly by social, communicative and behavioral issues. Simple tasks that other children on the same age are learning accidentally take great strategy, teaching, and repetition for a child with Autism to learn. Parents who are seeking the intervention necessary for their child are getting denied the access. With a petition to the school board, her district did allow her staff to enter the schools to provide assistance and training to clients and paraprofessionals that would be working with clients. The direct service providers were happy to have us there and loved our support, while the administrators were not happy. It seemed a battle of territory. (Attachment 4)

Katelin Christianer-Donkers, Parent, spoke of her son who is a special needs child who is medically and developmentally complex. He has a rare genetic syndrome that affects his nervous system which makes him struggle to regulate, interact with peers, and learn in a group environment without significant support. He also has an autism spectrum disorder, and his care team feels that Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy would help support his learning. After starting ABA Therapy, his learning and understanding has improved tenfold, and his teacher sees incredible progress. Without ABA therapy at school, her son would become passive and struggle to participate meaningfully, become dysregulated, and may unintentionally disrupt group learning due to his neurological condition. (Attachment 5)

Dr. Christine Durrett, Clinical Neuropsychologist, Flint Hills Neuropsychology, said allowing access to ABA therapy during the school day would offer several key benefits including:

• Naturalistic Learning: ABA is most effectively delivered in natural settings, such as the classroom, promoting generalization of skills in the "real world" and leading to improved social interaction with peers.
• Increased Accessibility: Integrating ABA into the school day ensures that all children who need this therapy can access it, regardless of their family's logistical or financial constraints. Families should not be forced to choose between their child's education and this vital treatment.
• Continuity of Care: Providing ABA within the school environment allows for better collaboration and communication between therapists, teachers, and other school staff, who are also likely providing specialized services for the child with Autism Spectrum Disorder. (Attachment 6)

Nancy Evangelidis, Parent, spoke of her three daughters, two with special needs. As parents, we do all we can to provide for our children so they, at some point, will be functioning and independent contributors to society. Every child is unique in their own way and faces their own plight of challenges life sends their way. Educators are the experts on the how and what is to be taught and even how to approach the delivery of instruction. However, schools are at the max and often find they are inundated with a myriad of social and behavioral challenges. ABA therapy works to modify behavior and teach through discreet trials. ABA therapy is not only medically necessary, but vital to students to be able to thrive and learn. Educators appreciate the support and often report learning techniques and strategies they can use themselves. (Attachment 7)

Amanda Gray, Parent, told of her daughter's interactions with different professionals that have helped but she was still falling behind more and more in all aspects of her intellectual and emotional development. Her daughter had more ability in her than what was showing outwardly. Therapies like speech and occupational therapy are great but they do not address the specific symptoms of autism unique to that child. They are individual treatments that do not target the child as a whole. ABA therapy does. It is data driven, tailored to the individual, and is a detailed plan on how to address specific symptoms of autism in a way that is effective. A comprehensive plan that supports a child, her goals, and the family as a whole. (Attachment 8)

Liz Hueben, Attorney, Disability Rights Center of Kansas, reported that some school districts in Kansas have adopted blanket bans on medically necessary Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapies by outside providers in public schools. Blanket bans not only violate the ADA and Section 504, but they are also devastating for students with disabilities. Ensuring ABA therapy is provided in the school ensures a more productive learning environment for all students, as the student with autism has the developmental support they need to better control their behaviors that are a manifestation of disability. This creates a less disrupted, more focused learning environment for all students, including those with and without disabilities. This bill would help ensure that private, medically necessary ABA therapy would be accessible in Kansas schools. (Attachment 9)

Kim Moir, Parent, told how her son, through using the principles of ABA learned to follow a schedule, gained reading skills, learned to tie his shoes, and was able to learn some simple math skills.  He also learned to read some social cues, developed some language, and learned to follow instructions. Although he has level three autism, ABA allowed him to reach his highest level of functioning. He is now 34 years old and has retained those skills. (Attachment 10)

Julie Moore, MS, BCBA, LBA, Former Teacher, CEO/Owner, Ad Astra MHK, LLC, said teachers are navigating increasingly complex behavioral and learning needs while striving to protect instructional time for every student. Community collaboration is not a luxury; it is a necessity. ABA is evidenced based and strengthens the learning environment and promotes long-term sustainability in the teaching profession. For students with autism, ABA is not enrichment or an optional add-on. It is a medically prescribed service designed to address the core symptoms of autism and improve lifelong outcomes in communication, social functioning, behavior regulation, and independence. When therapy is denied in the school setting, students are unable to equally access medically necessary support in public education, raising serious concerns under the ADA. (Attachment 11)

Anna Nippert, MS, ECSE Autism Specialist, Ad Astra MHK, was directly involved in advocacy efforts when a local district removed access to ABA services in the classroom. Students who had been thriving in their neighborhood schools suddenly lost critical support. Families were devastated for their children and forced into impossible choices. That situation is not isolated. It is occurring in districts across Kansas. The inconsistency from one district to another, administrator to administrator, one year to the next, is why we need this bill as it provides clarity and consistency for ALL Kansas students. The following is what happens in the classroom when ABA services are either present or denied:

• Autistic students make measurable gains when ABA is delivered in the classroom.
• Peers benefit from the presence of ABA services.
• Teachers are currently absorbing medical-level needs without medical-level support.
• Policy concerns can be addressed. They should not be used as barriers.

This bill is desperately needed to remove barriers to ensure that all autistic children across Kansas can access medically necessary care in the setting where they spend most of their day. (Attachment 12)

Kevin Steinmetz, Parent, spoke as a representative of parents of autistic children and autism advocates to encourage the committee to support this bill. A series of videos featuring testimonials from parents, medical doctors, board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs), autism specialists, and neuropsychologists are included in testimony. (Attachment 13)

Daniel Unumb, President, Autism Legal Resource Center, said ASD is a global developmental disorder involving impairments in social interaction, communication and behavior, and children with ASD frequently have difficulty generalizing behaviors across settings. Because of this, and because ABA, the primary medical treatment for ASD, involves the interaction between behavior and environment, it is medically necessary for some children with ASD to receive behavioral health treatment across a variety of settings, including school settings, to successfully treat their condition and achieve maximum functioning. In the face of limited resources, a significant population of autistic children are continually aging into a challenging adulthood. It is not only the right thing to do but the most sensible and responsible thing to make sure that all resources are available in all settings as needed. This bill does just that. (Attachment 14)

Proponent Written:

Proponent Written A-T (Attachment 15) 

Neutral:

Frank Harwood, Deputy Commissioner of Fiscal and Administrative Services, Kansas State Department of Education, explained the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This bill attempts to work around the remedies already provided for in law. Schools are required by IDEA to work with parents to develop an individualized education plan (IEP) that outlines the special education services, supports and goals tailored to the student's unique learning needs. This bill tells schools to ignore the IEP and to allow outside therapists to come into the classroom even if doing so would contradict the IEP. It also requires Kansas State Board of Education to create a dispute resolution process to be used by school districts and parents. Currently KSDE does not have sufficient staff to provide dispute resolution services as called for in this bill. (Attachment 16)

Erika Sheets, Parent, said ABA is a gold standard medical therapy for children with autism for good reason. But allowing ABA services in public schools is inherently problematic. The bill doesn't specify dedicated special education space to deliver ABA services. HIPAA privacy is a requirement for the ABA provider code of ethics. Not to mention other special education and general education students being subject to medical therapy and data collection, their parents never consented to. (Attachment 17)

Neutral Written:

Timothy R. Graham, Director of Government Relations and Legislative Affairs, Kansas National Education Association (Attachment 18)

Opponent:

Jim Karleskint, United School Administrators, said that while the intent to provide Applied Behavior Analysis and other behavioral health services is laudable, the bill lacks clear standards. It authorizes medically necessary services to be delivered in schools by private providers; however, schools are educational institutions first, not clinical settings. More dialogue is needed to ensure real-world implementation challenges are addressed. (Attachment 19)

Mary Sinclair, PhD, Kansas PTA Advocacy Team on behalf of Vikki Mullins, President, Kansas PTA, recommends this committee fully fund special education services at current statutory levels. (Attachment 20)

Angela Stallbaumer, Deputy Director and General Counsel, Kansas Association of School Boards, said public schools are educational facilities, not medical ones. Classrooms are delicate ecosystems, where disruptions that cannot be anticipated and quickly addressed can hijack student learning. The committee was asked to consider the impact of this bill on the students and families that become part of this ABA Therapy experiment involuntarily. Equity and access are concerns as this bill conflicts with existing federal and state law. This bill also undermines the IEP Process and IDEA safeguards.(Attachment 21)

Opponent Written:

Kyle Carlin, Director of Special Education, West Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative #708 (Attachment 22)

Gillian Chapman, Superintendent, Blue Valley Schools (Attachment 23)

Amy Haussler, Ed.S., Director of Special Education, Holton, Special Education Cooperative (Attachment 24)

Jess Herbig, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, Goddard Public Schools USD 265 (Attachment 25)

Beryl New, Legislative Liaisons, Kansas State Board of Education (Attachment 26)

Katherine Kersenbrock-Ostmeyer, Retired Director Special Education (Attachment 27)

Dr. Jessica Nelson, BCBA, Director of Special Education, Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 (Attachment 28)

Ashley Riley, Director of Special Education, Barton County Special Services Cooperative (Attachment 29)

Sarah Sanders, Special Services Director, Kaw Valley USD 321 (Attachment 30)

Dr. Michael Schumacher, Superintendent, Shawnee Mission School District (Attachment 31)

Libby Self, Kansas Special Education Professional (Attachment 32)

Discussion followed.

Chairman Erickson closed the hearing on SB 441 and adjourned the meeting at 2:28 pm.

The next Senate Education Committee meeting will be held February 26, 2026, in Room 144-S.