Summary of Seclusion and Restraint Statutes, Regulations, Policies and Guidance, by State and Territory: Information as Reported to the Regional Comprehensive Centers and Gathered from Other Sources (ms word)

Informing Parents About the Use of Restraint

Written Summary of Restraint Use Sample Form

The Written Summary of Restraint Use Sample Form has been developed pursuant to Texas Education Code

§37.0021. Use of Confinement, Restraint, Seclusion, and Time-Out and Texas Administrative Code §89.1053. Procedures for Use of Restraint and Time-Out, specifically §89.1053(e)(3),(4),(5)(A-I). This form is aligned with the PEIMS Record 435 (Special Education Child Restraint—Student) reporting requirement. Districts may use this form to inform parents about the use of restraint and also to assist in the collection of data to be reported through PEIMS. Districts will be required to submit 435 data with the June 2004 PEIMS submission. The form can be downloaded in MS Word or Adobe Acrobat PDF format: Districts may use this form or create their own form based on the required items reflected in §89.1053(e)(3),(4),(5)(A-I).

English: Adobe Acrobat PDF | MS Word

Spanish: Adobe Acrobat PDF | MS Word

Professional Development

State Resources for the Use of Positive Behavioral Supports

Established in 2001 in response to Senate Bill 1196, the Texas Behavior Support Initiative (TBSI) is designed to build capacity in Texas schools for the provision of positive behavioral support (PBS) to all students. Region IV Education Service Center (ESC) leads this technical assistance function for the state. The goal of PBS is to enhance the capacity of schools to educate all students, especially students with challenging behaviors, by adopting a sustained, positive, preventative instructional approach to school wide discipline and behavior management. This approach focuses on teaching and encouraging positive schoolwide behavioral expectations and increasing school capacity to support sustained use of empirically validated practices.

The TBSI training modules are designed to assist campus teams in developing and implementing a wide range of behavior strategies and prevention-based interventions. These skills help educators establish schoolwide, classroom and individual student level systems of support. The TBSI: Schoolwide PBS Project and TBSI Interventions for Statewide with severe behavior were developed based on needs assessment data collected during the 2002–03 school year.)

Use of Stimulus Funds

Agency guidance and presentations related to the use of the IDEA-B Stimulus funds have included Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) as an important topic to consider.

Data Analysis

District Data Review

Districts may now review their reported restraint data through the Special Education Ad Hoc Reporting System (SPEARS). SPEARS is a dynamic reporting tool designed for accessing and analyzing data related to Special Education in the state of Texas. The data provided are collected from school districts and charter schools by means of the PEIMS and are provided as a service of the Texas Education Agency.

In September 2009, the Agency released information to assist districts in understanding how to run reports on restraint data available in SPEARS. Districts will be able to compare their data at the state and regional levels. The Region 4 Education Service Center is developing a tool to assist districts in understanding how to analyze the restraint data. The Agency will issue an Administrator Addressed Letter in early 2010 to remind districts of all our regulations and efforts in this area.

Utah

Utah Code § 53A-11-802.

Prohibition of corporal punishment—Use of reasonable and necessary physical restraint or force.

(1) A school employee may not inflict or cause the infliction of corporal punishment upon a child who is receiving services from the school, unless written permission has been given by the student’s parent or guardian to do so.

(2) This section does not prohibit the use of reasonable and necessary physical restraint or force in self defense or otherwise appropriate to the circumstances to:

(a) obtain possession of a weapon or other dangerous object in the possession or under the control of a child;

(b) protect the child or another person from physical injury;

(c) remove from a situation a child who is violent or disruptive; or

(d) protect property from being damaged.

(3) (a) Any rule, ordinance, policy, practice, or directive which purports to direct or permit the commission of an act prohibited by this part is void and unenforceable.

(b) An employee may not be subjected to any sanction for failure or refusal to commit an act prohibited under this part.

(4) A parochial or private school may exempt itself from the provisions of this section by adopting a policy to that effect and notifying the parents or guardians of children in the school of the exemption.

53A-11-805. Exception.

Behavior reduction intervention which is in compliance with Section 76-2-401 and with state and local rules adopted under Section 53A-15-301 is excerpted from this part.

Utah State Office of Education (USOE) Board Rule R277-609-3.

School District, School and Charter School Discipline Plan Responsibilities.

A. Each school district, or school and each charter school shall develop and implement a board approved comprehensive school district, school or charter school plan or policy for student and classroom management, and school discipline. The plan shall include:

(1) the definitions of Section 53A-11-910;

(2) written standards for student behavior expectations, including school and classroom management;

(3) effective instructional practices for teaching student expectations, including self-discipline, citizenship, civic skills, and social skills;

(4) systematic methods for reinforcement of expected behaviors and uniform methods for correction of student behavior;

(5) uniform methods for at least annual school level data-based evaluations of efficiency and effectiveness;

(6) an ongoing staff development program related to development of student behavior expectations, effective instructional practices for teaching and reinforcing behavior expectations, effective intervention strategies, and effective strategies for evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of interventions;

(7) policies and procedures relating to the use and abuse of alcohol and controlled substances by students;

(8) policies to define, prohibit, and intervene in bullying, including the requirement of awareness and intervention strategies, including training for social skills, for students, parents, and school staff. The policies shall:

(a) provide for training specific to overt aggression that may include physical fighting such as punching, shoving, kicking, and verbal threatening behavior, such as name calling, or both physical and verbal aggression or threatening behavior;

(b) provide for training specific to relational aggression or indirect, covert, or social aggression, including rumor spreading, intimidation, enlisting a friend to assault a child, and social isolation;

(c) provide training and education specific to bullying based upon students':

(i) actual or perceived identities;

(ii) conformance or failure to conform with stereotypes.

(d) provide for training specific to cyber bullying, including use of email, web pages, text messaging, instant messaging, three-way calling or messaging or any other electronic means for aggression inside or outside of school;

(e) provide for student assessment of the prevalence of bullying in school districts, schools and charter schools, specifically locations where students are unsafe and additional adult supervision may be required, such as playgrounds, hallways, and lunch areas;

(f) complement existing safe and drug free school policies and school harassment and hazing policies; and

(g) include strategies for providing students and staff, including aides, custodians, kitchen and lunchroom workers, secretaries, paraprofessionals, and coaches, with awareness and intervention skills such as social skills training.

B. The plan shall also provide direction to school districts for dealing with disruptive students. This part of the plan shall:

(1) direct schools to determine the range of behaviors and establish the continuum of administrative procedures that may be used by school personnel to address the behavior of habitually disruptive students;

(2) provide for identification, by position(s), of individual(s) designated to issue notices of disruptive student behavior; and

(3) provide for documentation of disruptive student behavior prior to referral of disruptive students to juvenile court.

C. School district or school plans or sections of plans, including directives about bullying and disruptive students, shall also:

(1) include strategies to provide for necessary adult supervision;

(2) be clearly written and consistently enforced; and

(3) include administration, instruction and support staff, students, parents, community council and other community members in policy development, training and prevention implementation so as to create a community sense of participation, ownership, support and responsibility.

USOE R277-609-4.

A. School districts, schools and charter schools shall implement strategies and policies consistent with their plans.

B. School districts, schools and charter schools shall develop, use and monitor a continuum of intervention strategies to assist students whose behavior in school falls repeatedly short of reasonable expectations, including teaching student behavior expectations, reinforcing student behavior expectations, re-teaching behavior expectations, followed by effective, evidence-based interventions matched to student needs prior to administrative referral.

C. As part of any suspension or expulsion process that results in court involvement, once a school district, school or charter school receives information from the courts that disruptive student behavior will result in court action, the school district, school or charter school shall provide a formal written assessment of habitually disruptive students. Assessment information shall be used to connect parents and students with supportive school and community resources.

D. Nothing in state law or this rule restricts local districts/charter schools from implementing policies to allow for suspension of students of any age consistent with due process and with all requirements of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004.

(Attachment 2: USOE Board Rule at a Glance Document)