Description
Director of School Culture, Behavior and Discipline
Mission:
The Director of School Culture, Behavior, and Discipline serves as a strategic and operational leader responsible for shaping, guiding, and strengthening school-wide culture systems across the district. This role ensures the consistent implementation of equitable, student-centered behavior practices that align with the district’s values, state laws, and the Student Code of Conduct.
Reporting to the Vice President of Student Support Services, the Director leads initiatives that promote safe, inclusive, and restorative learning environments, with a focus on reducing exclusionary discipline, increasing student belonging, and improving school climate through the Multi-System of Support model (MTSS). The Director partners closely with national departments, regional teams and campus leaders, to coach, develop, and monitor high-impact behavior and discipline systems that result in positive outcomes for all students. The Director will work closely with their teammates on the Student Support Services Team to create a comprehensive, student-centered model to support all students at IDEA. They will serve as the district expert and will pursue ongoing development to uncover and integrate latest research and best practices related to the work.
This leader is responsible for ensuring discipline data reported to the state is accurate and within compliance of policies and state laws. The Director plays a key role in district-wide compliance, discipline data analysis, staff training, and the continuous improvement of systems that drive a positive school culture. In this position, the Director will review and update the preventative curriculum guidance for K-12 students. The Director will curate and create collateral materials and trainings for stakeholders to engage with aligned to the vision and will oversee the Phase 2+ implementation of the PBIS (Positive Behavior Incentive System) and the Phase 1 of the BRS (Behavioral Referral System) through their management of the System Administrator.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
Management of the Student Support Services Team System Administrator
Location:
This is a full-time remote position for Texas with preference given to candidates who live in Austin, El Paso, Houston, Permian Basin (Midland/Odessa), Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Tarrant County (Fort Worth). However living in Texas is not required.
Travel Expectations:
The National Director will be responsible for traveling throughout the state to observe and coach team leaders in the field and assess the implementation of the program's vision as well as the use of the systems required. Minimum 30% of the time
What You’ll Do – Accountabilities
Essential Duties:
Leadership & Strategic Planning
- Lead the development and execution of a district-wide vision for school culture, behavior, and discipline that promotes equity, inclusion, and restorative practices.
- Collaborate with district leaders to align culture and discipline strategy with MTSS, SEL, crisis prevention, at-risk, SPED and family engagement systems.
- Leads the development of training materials, resources for support and integration of school culture behavior and discipline content in the layers of the organization that ultimately reach all students.
- As a partner and Title IX decision maker, analyze data from multiple sources to determine strategic impact and/or strategic shifts to prevent or minimize the volume of reported incidents
Campus Support & Capacity Building
- Train, support and coach national partners, regional leader's, principals, counselors, and additional stakeholders in implementing high-quality Tier 1-3 behavior systems, classroom management strategies, and student support plans.
- Design and deliver professional development to build campus capacity in positive behavior interventions, restorative practices, and discipline compliance.
- Leads the curation of and vision for student facing curriculum that is both aligned to state policy and internal IDEA data trends to decrease crisis situations that impact student safety
Behavior Systems & Data
- Responsible to ensure quarterly data audits are complete and accurate resulting in reliable data being reported to the TEA. Analyzes and writes Executive Summaries to brief chief team on data for IDEA Public Schools
- Monitor district-wide trends in student behavior, suspensions, expulsions, and discipline disproportionality; identify root causes and lead strategic responses.
- Partner with SIS/PEIMS teams to ensure behavior and discipline data is accurately entered, reported, and used to inform campus action.
- Manages the National System Administrator who leads the support of multiple systems on the Student Support Services Team
- Collaborates with internal SIS/PEIMS team and the Development team to present a visual representation of the live data to inform stakeholders of progress towards goals and allows for analysis to drive action
Policy & Compliance
- Ensure campus implementation of the Student Code of Conduct and all related policies is consistent, compliant, and student-centered.
- Provide training and guidance on discipline requirements under state and federal law, including IDEA, Section 504, Title IX, and Texas Education Code (Ch. 37).
- Review discipline documentation and investigations to ensure due process and legal compliance.
Crisis Response & Intervention Support
- Partner with the Director of Crisis Prevention and Response on behavior-related crises, threat assessments, and reentry planning after serious incidents.
- Manage the implementation of preventative student curriculum across all campuses
- Update the pathway and interventions for first time offenders to deter reoccurrence
Additional Duties and Responsibilities:
- Measurable reduction in discipline disproportionality across race, gender, and disability status
- Year-over-year reduction in OSS (out of school suspensions), ISS (in-school suspensions) and expulsions, especially for vulnerable student groups (e.g., K-2, students with disabilities).
- Decrease in reports of bullying through external channels
- Decrease incidents in incidents involving local law enforcement- vaping, drug use
- Working with community partners to support students in prevention and response to drug/alcohol use, vaping, bullying or other negative behaviors
Knowledge and Skills – Competencies
- Make Strategic Decisions: This team member uses data and trends to drive decisions that impact multiple teams, while anticipating risks and planning contingencies for key initiatives. They apply strategic frameworks to clarify challenges and guide coherent action, and they actively support others in strengthening their strategic thinking and decision-making capabilities.
- Manage Work and Teams: This team member leads cross-functional coordination to align efforts with strategic goals, optimizing resource use and minimizing silos. They build accountability frameworks, monitor key performance indicators to guide adjustments, and mentor emerging leaders, while implementing scalable systems that enhance efficiency and team effectiveness.
- Grow Self and Others: This team member uses data to assess development needs and designs learning opportunities that align with team goals and individual career growth. They model a growth mindset by being open about their own development and ensure that both personal and team-led learning initiatives are impactful and well-aligned with organizational priorities.
- Build a Culture of Trust: This team member builds trust and drives positive engagement across multiple groups, as reflected in strong feedback and survey results. They proactively address concerns, model transparency and authenticity, and foster collaboration through open, honest communication and shared ownership.
- Communicate Deliberately: This team member sets and upholds communication standards across the organization, ensuring clarity and trust, especially during times of change or crisis. They lead major initiatives with strategic, context-rich messaging, proactively shaping narratives that address challenges, foster resilience, and align stakeholder perception with organizational impact.
Additional Skills:
- Exceptional organizational skills, including the use of effective project management tools
- Exceptional writing and communication skills
- Ability to read and analyze data, create reporting tools
- Exceptional training design and facilitation skills
Required experience:
- Bachelors’ degree, or higher, is required
- 2+ Years of experience in project management
- Experience in managing through layers and influence
- Technology skills, including presentation & word processing software
- Experience implementing large change management across an organization
- Experience in schools- administrative, teaching or counseling
- Knowledge of different positive behavior support approaches
- Ability to partner with other teams to work together to reach a goal
Preferred Education and Experience:
- BCBA (preferred but not required)
- Technology skills, including presentation & word processing software
- Experience implementing large change management across an organization
- Experience in schools- administrative, teaching or counseling
- Knowledge of different positive behavior support approaches
- Ability to partner with other teams to work together to reach a goal
Physical Requirements:
- Must be able to travel and work in a school environment
- Must be able to support school operations if needed, this could mean lifting, moving items to create safe classrooms and spaces
- Must be able to stand, walk and be on their feet for a long amount of time in support of a school day similar to a teacher if needed
What We Offer:
Compensation & Benefits:
Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $108,100 and $128,600, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for performance pay based on organizational performance and goal attainment.
Additionally, we offer medical, dental, and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, referral bonuses, professional development, and a 403(b) plan. You can find more information about our benefits at https://ideapublicschools.org/careers/benefits/.
IDEA may offer a relocation stipend to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.
Application process:
Submit your application online through Jobvite. Please note that applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
Learn more about IDEA
At IDEA the School Culture and Belonging Team uses our Core Values to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members. Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here: https://ideapublicschools.org/our-story/#core-values
