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Iowa bill creates pilot program for separate classrooms for students with behavioral issues
Education leaders, disability advocates agree student behavior needs to be addressed, but worry about ‘segregation’ and how proposal would be funded
Feb. 17, 2026 4:03 pm
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Education leaders and disability advocates were split Tuesday in their support of proposed legislation that would create a pilot program requiring two school districts — to be identified by the Iowa Department of Education — to establish attendance centers for students who require special education and have behavioral issues.
Educators and disability advocates in opposition warned the bill could “segregate” special education students from the general student population and voiced concern about the proposed funding mechanism that would draw from schools’ special education dollars.
Those who support the bill or who are undecided agree student behavior in classrooms is escalating and a response is needed.
“The behavior of some students has intensified over the years, and we in Iowa have not done a very good job of continuum of services,” said Susie Meade, shared chief administrator of Grant Wood Area Education Agency and chief academic officer of Heartland Area Education Agency.
A continuum of services in special education refers to a range of placement options and supports designed to meet individual student needs in the least restrictive environment.
“I do believe this is a really good idea,” Meade said during a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday. “However, we are strongly opposed to the funding.”
The program would be funded by the 90 percent of state special education funding that goes to school districts for contracting with Area Education Agencies for services. In its first year, at least 48 percent of these funds would need to be used for the pilot program.
Meade, who said the Area Education Agencies are undecided on the bill, suggested further investment into an already established program — the Therapeutic Classroom Grant. The program provides competitive grants to public school districts to establish therapeutic classrooms for learners ages 3 to 21 whose emotional, social or behavioral needs interfere with their ability to be successful in their current educational environment.
Meade said students have had “great success” in these environments “learning new skills and learning how to cope with the mental situations that they’re dealing with and then going back to their schools in a very successful way.”
“Students with behavior misconduct are very different from students that have mental illnesses, so we need to look at services for them in a very different way. The great news is AEAs have a lot of services that can help districts build a program like this and support the skills students need to be successful to go back to the classroom in their home district,” Meade said.
Classroom ‘not always the best choice’
Under the proposed bill, House File 2181, the Iowa Department of Education would develop and administer the pilot program requiring a rural and urban school district to each establish an attendance center to be used to provide educational services — including special education services — to eligible students enrolled in the district.
The Senate subcommittee Tuesday approved advancing the legislation for consideration by the full Senate Education Committee. The bill will need to be approved by that committee by the end of this week to be eligible for consideration the rest of the session.
The Iowa Department of Education would determine which school districts would participate in the pilot program.
The participating school districts would submit an annual report that includes the number of students who participated, the academic performance of those students and feedback from students, families and teachers. The annual report would include challenges associated with operating the pilot program and recommendations for how to improve.
Eligible students would require special education and have emotional, social or behavioral needs that interfere with the student’s ability to be successful in the regular educational environment, even with additional aids and services.
Iowa Sen. Lynn Evans, a Republican from Aurelia, said the pilot program could address the “missing pieces” in the continuum of services. He agreed discussion needs to continue on how the program is funded.
“We’ve seen violent behaviors become more and more outlandish over the last few years, putting our adults in situations where we have heard reports of harm being done, not only physical, but mental to staff members. We certainly have to provide the safest environment for them as well,” Evans said.
“We always default to the least restrictive environment — the classroom. I think that should be the first choice, but it’s not always the best choice, especially if a student’s disability is manifested based on that placement. It can be disruptive, not only for the student, but for everyone else in the classroom,” he added.
Sen. Molly Donahue, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids and a behavior disorder teacher, said the intent of the bill is good, and it could protect students and educators. The needs of the students these pilots could serve, however, would require expertise in several areas.
“Mental health, conduct disorders, autism — those are very different needs,” Donahue said. “If you shove them all into a therapeutic classroom, who is that teacher and how do they have the skills to teach those different things? We need to be very mindful about who is providing these services.”
Disability Rights Iowa opposes the bill
Catherine Johnson, executive director at Disability Rights Iowa, opposed the bill. She said it would take public education back to 1975 before the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act became federal law. The law requires free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment for eligible children with disabilities from birth through age 21.
“It’s essentially creating segregation in public education, which violates federal law,” Johnson said.
Johnson said she believes the intent of the bill “is to help kids with disabilities,” but the proposed way the pilot program would be funded would “divert previous resources from kids that already do not have enough resources in their schools to meet their needs.”
Nathan Arnold, deputy director with Professional Educators of Iowa — which is in favor of the bill — said there will be some behavioral issues in schools, but “where we are right now is beyond the point that I’m comfortable with in terms of violence, threats, disruptions, bad behaviors and things like that. It’s evolved to the point where a student assaults his teacher and nothing can be done about it.”
Other organizations opposed to the bill are the Brain Injury Association of Iowa; Easterseals Iowa, a nonprofit that provides disability services in the state; School Administrators of Iowa and Rural School Advocates of Iowa
The Iowa State Education Association, which represents Iowa union teachers, is undecided on the bill. Melissa Peterson, legislative and policy director for the association, said the union is not opposed to the bill “because we do think there is a place for limited alternative learning environments on a non-permanent basis.”
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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