Utah's foundational behavior support training for school employees (Utah Admin. Code R277-608-4): what the rule asks, and where outside training fits
The short answer
Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, a Utah State Board of Education rule, R277-608-4, requires school employees of local education agencies (LEAs) who supervise students, or who may be asked to assist in managing a student's behavior, to receive foundational behavior support training. The training must cover behavioral or emotional crisis management, including de-escalation strategies, and the LEA's policies on emergency safety interventions. Employees complete it within two months of employment, or within 30 days if they work directly with a student with disabilities, and "bi-annually, thereafter." The rule's definition of "school employee" includes teachers, staff, administrators and other people employed directly or indirectly by an LEA, excluding law enforcement officers; the rule does not name autism.
What the law says
Utah Administrative Code R277-608-4(1) and (2):
"(1) Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, all school employees who supervise students, or who may be asked to assist in managing a student's behavior, shall receive foundational behavior support training, which shall include: (a) behavioral or emotional crisis management including de-escalation strategies consistent with the (LRBI) manual incorporated by reference into Section R277-609-7; and (b) LEA policies related to ESI."
"(2) The foundational behavior support training, described in Subsection R277-608-4(1), must be completed within two months or 30 days if working directly with a student with disabilities, of employment and bi-annually, thereafter."
"ESI" means an emergency safety intervention: the use of seclusion or physical restraint when a student presents an immediate danger to self or others. "LEA" is the local education agency, such as a school district or charter school, and the rule includes the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. The rule defines a "school employee" as a school teacher, a school staff member, a school administrator, or "any other person employed, directly or indirectly, by an LEA," and says "School Employee" does not mean a law enforcement officer. The LRBI manual is the Board's Least Restrictive Behavioral Interventions manual.
The same rule adds a second training for a smaller group. "Key identified school employees," as each LEA defines them in its policy, must also receive comprehensive ESI training covering disengagement strategies, the appropriate, safe and effective use of ESI, and documentation of ESI. The rule says it "shall be completed before a school employee may use an ESI with a student and annually, thereafter." Our course does not teach restraint, seclusion, crisis management or de-escalation.
The rule rests on Utah Code § 53G-8-301, which tells the State Board to make rules to "create school staff training standards that may be included in an existing training."
The State Board's July 2025 technical assistance document on this training lists the employees it covers as including, but not limited to, administrators, general and special education teachers, paraprofessionals, paraeducators and aides, behavior specialists, school-based mental health specialists, related service providers, bus drivers, secretaries, and district and school coaches.
Source: Utah Admin. Code R277-608 (Utah State Board of Education, rule page); Utah Code § 53G-8-301; USBE Foundational Behavior Support Training Rubric (July 2025).
Where outside training fits
The State Board's rubric says: "Local Education Agencies (LEAs) can use the model training provided by the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), can contract with an external partner to provide this training, or can develop their own training." It adds that an LEA that contracts for or develops its own training should, as best practice, include the content in the rubric, and that the Board's model training does not cover the LEA's own policy on emergency safety interventions. The rubric's page does not show a price for the model training.
The rule's foundational behavior support training covers behavioral or emotional crisis management, including de-escalation, and the LEA's emergency safety intervention policies. Our course does not teach either, and we do not claim that it satisfies R277-608, counts toward foundational behavior support training or comprehensive ESI training, or qualifies anyone to use an emergency safety intervention. Our course teaches basic ABA methods for daily practice. If your LEA wants to use outside training for any Utah requirement, ask your LEA or the Utah State Board of Education how it evaluates outside courses.
What our Intro to ABA Level 1 course covers
The Intro to ABA Level 1 course teaches methods and techniques of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for parents and caregivers, teachers, paraprofessionals and behavior technicians who work with a child every day. Topics include what autism is, what ABA is, pairing, errorless teaching and prompting, and active student responding. Complete the course and pass its 40-question final exam with a score of at least 80%. Completing this course earns a Special Learning certificate of completion. That certificate is not a continuing education (CE) certificate. It is basic training in ABA methods for daily practice, not a professional credential. We do not claim Utah state approval or continuing education credit for this course.
A paraprofessional who took it wrote: "I want to learn everything I can to help my student succeed in the public school system. I found Special Learning's ABA level 1 course so fascinating and inspiring."
Two ways to start
- For one person: try the first two sessions free for 7 days; account creation is required, with no payment information requested. The full course costs $199, paid once, with no subscription or recurring charge. Activate your license code within 90 days of purchase; the published completion window is 10 weeks after activation. You may request a later start date, no later than three months after purchase. Start the free sessions
- For your district's staff: tell us how many people need training and when, and we will send a quote; each participant who completes the course and passes its 40-question final exam with a score of at least 80% earns an individual certificate of completion. Ask for a school quote
Last reviewed: October 29, 2026.