Bill Text: HI HB1796 | 2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Restraint and Seclusion; Public Schools; Appropriation ($)

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-07-08 - Act 206, 7/2/2014 (Gov. Msg. No. 1316). [HB1796 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-HB1796-Amended.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1796
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to:

     (1)  Prevent and reduce the use of restraint or seclusion in public schools;

     (2)  Ensure the safety of all students and personnel in public schools and promote a positive school culture and climate;

     (3)  Protect students from:

         (A)  Physical and mental abuse;

         (B)  Aversive behavioral interventions that compromise health and safety; and

         (C)  Any restraint or seclusion imposed solely for purposes of discipline or convenience;

     (4)  Ensure that restraint or seclusion are imposed in public schools only when a student's behavior poses an imminent danger of physical injury to the student, school personnel, or others; and

     (5)  Assist public schools in:

         (A)  Establishing policies and procedures to keep all students and school personnel safe, including students with the most complex and intense behavioral needs;

         (B)  Providing school personnel with the necessary tools, training, and support to ensure the safety of all students and all school personnel;

         (C)  Collecting and analyzing data on the use of restraint or seclusion in schools; and

         (D)  Identifying and implementing effective evidence-based models to prevent and reduce restraint or seclusion in schools.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§302A-    Use of restraint or seclusion limited; notification; policies and procedures; training; review.  (a)  The use of restraint or seclusion shall be prohibited in public schools unless:

     (1)  There is an emergency situation, and restraint or seclusion is necessary to protect a student or other person; provided that other less intrusive interventions have failed or been determined to be inappropriate; or

     (2)  The parent or legal guardian of a student has otherwise provided written consent for the use of restraint or seclusion while a behavioral intervention plan is being developed.

     (b)  At a minimum, any room or structure used for seclusion shall:

     (1)  Be free of objects and fixtures with which the student could self-inflict bodily harm;

     (2)  Provide a teacher with an unobstructed view of the student from an adjacent area; and

     (3)  Provide adequate lighting and ventilation.

     (c)  All parents and legal guardians of students shall receive, at least annually, written information about the policies and procedures for restraint or seclusion issued by the department.  This written information shall include:

     (1)  A brief summary describing the training received by public school staff in using restraint or seclusion in facilities or programs;

     (2)  Information describing state policies and procedures that meet the minimum standards established by state statutes and administrative rules;

     (3)  Information on the procedures for determining when restraint or seclusion can and cannot be properly used in public school settings;

     (4)  Definitions of restraint and seclusion;

     (5)  Information on the procedural safeguards that are in place to protect the rights of children and their parents or legal guardians;

     (6)  A description of the alignment of the department's and public school's policies and procedures with applicable state laws or department rules;

     (7)  Information on the procedures for notifying parents and legal guardians when restraint or seclusion has been used with their child; and

     (8)  Information on the procedures for notifying parents and legal guardians about any changes to policies and procedures on restraint or seclusion.

     (d)  If policy or procedural changes related to restraint or seclusion are made during the school year, staff and parents or legal guardians shall be notified immediately.

     (e)  The board shall establish a policy regarding the use of restraint or seclusion in public schools.  The department shall establish procedures to be followed after each incident involving the imposition of restraint or seclusion upon a student, including procedures to provide to the parent or legal guardian of the student with respect to each such incident the following:

     (1)  An immediate verbal or electronic communication on the same day as each incident; and

     (2)  Written notification within twenty-four hours of each incident.

     (f)  All public schools shall ensure that staff who use restraint or seclusion in facilities or programs are trained and certified on a periodic basis.  Training shall include:

     (1)  Evidence-based techniques shown to be effective in the prevention of restraint or seclusion;

     (2)  Evidence-based techniques shown to be effective in keeping school personnel and students safe when imposing restraint or seclusion;

     (3)  Evidence-based skills related to positive behavioral supports and interventions, safe physical escort, conflict prevention, understanding antecedents, de-escalation, and conflict management;

     (4)  A wide array of prevention and intervention modalities;

     (5)  First aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and

     (6)  Information describing state policies and procedures that meet the minimum standards established by state statute and administrative rules.

     (g)  Each public school shall maintain records of its review of restraint and seclusion data and any resulting decisions or actions regarding the use of restraint or seclusion.

     (h)  No less than quarterly, there shall be a review of data on students who were restrained or secluded conducted as directed by each complex area superintendent.  The complex area superintendent shall determine whether:

     (1)  There are strategies in place to address the students with dangerous behaviors at issue;

     (2)  The strategies in place are effective in increasing appropriate behaviors of students with dangerous behaviors; and

     (3)  New strategies need to be developed or current strategies need to be revised or changed to prevent the reoccurrence of dangerous behaviors.

Patterns and trends in the data that are identified by the department shall be reported to the department.

     (i)  The department shall review policies and procedures on the use of restraint or seclusion, including:

     (1)  Available data on the use of these practices and their outcomes, settings, individual staff, and programs, including the frequency of the use of restraint or seclusion across:

          (A)  Individual children;

          (B)  Groups of children;

          (C)  Gender;

          (D)  Race;

          (E)  National origin;

          (F)  Disability status and type of disability; and

          (G)  Students with limited English proficiency;

     (2)  Whether policies for restraint and seclusion are being applied consistently;

     (3)  The accuracy and consistency with which restraint and seclusion data is being collected, as well as the extent to which this data is being used to plan behavioral interventions and staff training;

     (4)  Whether policies and procedures for using these practices are being implemented with fidelity;

     (5)  Whether the policies and procedures continue to protect children and adults; and

     (6)  Whether the policies and procedures remain properly aligned with applicable state statutes and administrative rules and consistent with privacy laws.

     (j)  As used in this section:

     "Behavioral intervention plan" means a proactive plan designed to address problem behaviors exhibited by a student in the educational setting through the use of positive behavioral supports and interventions.

     "Positive behavioral supports and interventions" means a systematic approach to embed evidence-based practices and data-driven decision making to improve public school climate and culture, including a range of systemic and individualized strategies to reinforce desired behaviors and diminish the reoccurrence of problem behaviors, in order to achieve improved academic and social outcomes and increase learning for all students, including students with the most complex and intense behavioral needs.

     "Restraint" means all of the following:

     (1)  A chemical restraint, which means a drug or medication used on a student to control behavior or restrict freedom of movement that is not:

          (A)  Prescribed by a licensed physician or other qualified health professional acting under the scope of the professional's authority under state law for the standard treatment of a student's medical or psychiatric condition; and

          (B)  Administered as prescribed by the licensed physician or other qualified health professional acting under the scope of the professional's authority under state law;

     (2)  A mechanical restraint, which means the use of devices as a means of restricting a student's freedom of movement; or

     (3)  A physical restraint, which means a personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of an individual to move the individual's arms, legs, or head freely.

     "Seclusion" means the confinement of a student alone in a room or structure from which the student is physically prevented from leaving."

     SECTION 3.  Section 302A-1141, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§302A-1141[]]  Punishment of pupils limited.  No physical punishment of any kind may be inflicted upon any pupil, [but reasonable force may be used by a teacher in order to restrain a pupil in attendance at school from hurting oneself or any other person or property, and reasonable force may be used as defined in section 703-309(2) by a principal or the principal's agent only with another teacher present and out of the presence of any other student but only for the purposes outlined in section 703-309(2)(a).] except as provided for under sections 302A-    and 703-309(2)."

     SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2014.

 

Report Title:

Restraint and Seclusion; Public Schools

 

Description:

Establishes conditions and procedures for the use of restraint or seclusion in public schools.  Effective July 1, 2014.  (HB1796 HD1)

 

 

 

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