2016 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 10 - Education and Culture
Chapter 170 - Boards of Education
Section 10-236b - Physical restraint and seclusion of students by school employees.
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Life-threatening physical restraint” means any physical restraint or hold of a person that (A) restricts the flow of air into a person’s lungs, whether by chest compression or any other means, or (B) immobilizes or reduces the free movement of a person’s arms, legs or head while the person is in the prone position;
(2) “Psychopharmacologic agent” means any medication that affects the central nervous system, influencing thinking, emotion or behavior;
(3) “Physical restraint” means any mechanical or personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the free movement of a person’s arms, legs or head. The term does not include: (A) Briefly holding a person in order to calm or comfort the person; (B) restraint involving the minimum contact necessary to safely escort a person from one area to another; (C) medical devices, including, but not limited to, supports prescribed by a health care provider to achieve proper body position or balance; (D) helmets or other protective gear used to protect a person from injuries due to a fall; or (E) helmets, mitts and similar devices used to prevent self-injury when the device is (i) part of a documented treatment plan or individualized education program pursuant to section 10-76d, or (ii) prescribed or recommended by a medical professional, as defined in section 38a-976, and is the least restrictive means available to prevent such self-injury;
(4) “School employee” shall have the same meaning as provided in subsection (b) of section 10-221o;
(5) “Seclusion” means the involuntary confinement of a student in a room, whether alone or with supervision, in a manner that prevents the student from leaving; and
(6) “Student” means a child (A) enrolled in grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, in a public school under the jurisdiction of a local or regional board of education, (B) receiving special education and related services in an institution or facility operating under contract with a local or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-76d, (C) enrolled in a program or school administered by a regional education service center established pursuant to section 10-66a, or (D) receiving special education and related services from an approved private special education program, but shall not include any child receiving educational services from (i) Unified School District #2, established pursuant to section 17a-37, or (ii) the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
(b) No school employee shall use a physical restraint on a student except as an emergency intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or to others, provided the restraint is not used for discipline or convenience and is not used as a substitute for a less restrictive alternative.
(c) No school employee shall use a life-threatening physical restraint on a student. This section shall not be construed as limiting any defense to criminal prosecution for the use of deadly physical force that may be available under sections 53a-18 to 53a-22, inclusive.
(d) No school employee shall place a student in seclusion except as an emergency intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or to others, provided the seclusion is not used for discipline or convenience and is not used as a substitute for a less restrictive alternative. No student shall be placed in seclusion unless (1) such student is monitored by a school employee during the period of such student’s seclusion pursuant to subsection (m) of this section, and (2) the area in which such student is secluded is equipped with a window or other fixture allowing such student a clear line of sight beyond the area of seclusion.
(e) No school employee may use a psychopharmacologic agent on a student without that student’s consent except (1) as an emergency intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or to others, or (2) as an integral part of the student’s established medical or behavioral support or educational plan, as developed consistent with section 17a-543 or, if no such plan has been developed, as part of a licensed practitioner’s initial orders. The use of psychopharmacologic agents, alone or in combination, may be used only in doses that are therapeutically appropriate and not as a substitute for other appropriate treatment.
(f) If any instance of physical restraint or seclusion of a student otherwise permissible under subsection (b) or (d) of this section exceeds fifteen minutes, (1) an administrator, as defined in section 10-144e, or such administrator’s designee, (2) a school health or mental health personnel, as defined in subsection (a) of section 10-212b, or (3) a board certified behavioral analyst, who has received training in the use of physical restraint and seclusion pursuant to subsection (o) of this section, shall determine whether continued physical restraint or seclusion is necessary to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or to others. Upon a determination that such continued physical restraint or seclusion is necessary, such individual shall make a new determination every thirty minutes thereafter regarding whether such physical restraint or seclusion is necessary to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or to others.
(g) In the event that physical restraint or seclusion is used on a student four or more times within twenty school days:
(1) An administrator, one or more of such student’s teachers, a parent or guardian of such student and, if any, a mental health professional, as defined in section 10-76t, shall convene for the purpose of (A) conducting or revising a behavioral assessment of the student, (B) creating or revising any applicable behavioral intervention plan, and (C) determining whether such student may require special education pursuant to section 10-76ff; or
(2) If such student is a child requiring special education, as described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (5) of section 10-76a, or a child being evaluated for eligibility for special education pursuant to section 10-76d and awaiting a determination, such student’s planning and placement team shall convene for the purpose of (A) conducting or revising a behavioral assessment of the student, and (B) creating or revising any applicable behavioral intervention plan, including, but not limited to, such student’s individualized education plan.
(h) Each local or regional board of education shall notify a parent or guardian of a student who is placed in physical restraint or seclusion not later than twenty-four hours after the student was placed in physical restraint or seclusion and shall make a reasonable effort to provide such notification immediately after such physical restraint or seclusion is initiated.
(i) No school employee shall use a physical restraint on a student or place a student in seclusion unless such school employee has received training on the proper means for performing such physical restraint or seclusion pursuant to subsection (o) of this section.
(j) (1) On and after July 1, 2016, each local or regional board of education, and each institution or facility operating under contract with a local or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-76d that provides special education for children, including any approved private special education program, shall (A) record each instance of the use of physical restraint or seclusion on a student, (B) specify whether the use of seclusion was in accordance with an individualized education program, (C) specify the nature of the emergency that necessitated the use of such physical restraint or seclusion, and (D) include such information in an annual compilation on its use of such restraint and seclusion on students. Each local or regional board of education and such institutions or facilities operating under contract with a local or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-76d that provides special education for children, including any approved private special education program shall provide such annual compilation to the Department of Education for the purposes of the pilot program established pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection to examine incidents of physical restraint and seclusion in schools and to the State Board of Education for the purposes of subsection (k) of this section. Local or regional boards of education and such institutions and facilities that provide special education for children shall not be required to report instances of in-school suspensions, as defined in subsection (c) of section 10-233a.
(2) The Department of Education shall establish a pilot program for the school year commencing July 1, 2015. Such pilot program shall be implemented in various districts, including, but not limited to, an alliance district, a regional school district and a regional education service center. Under the pilot program, the Department of Education shall examine incidents of physical restraint and seclusion in schools and shall compile and analyze data regarding such incidents to enable the department to better understand and respond to incidents of physical restraint and seclusion on students in the state.
(k) The State Board of Education shall review the annual compilation of each local or regional board of education, and each institution or facility operating under contract with a local or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-76d that provides special education for children, including any approved private special education program, and shall produce an annual summary report specifying (1) the frequency of use of physical restraint or seclusion on students, (2) whether any student subjected to such restraint or seclusion was a special education student, and (3) if any such student was a special education student, whether the use of such seclusion was in accordance with an individualized education program or whether the use of such seclusion was an emergency intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or to others. Such report shall be submitted not later than January 15, 2017, and annually thereafter, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children and education for inclusion in the annual report card prepared pursuant to section 2-53m.
(l) Any use of physical restraint or seclusion on a student shall be documented in the student’s educational record. The documentation shall include (1) the nature of the emergency and what other steps, including attempts at verbal deescalation, were taken to prevent the emergency from arising if there were indications that such an emergency was likely to arise, and (2) a detailed description of the nature of the restraint or seclusion, the duration of such restraint or seclusion and the effect of such restraint or seclusion on the student’s established educational plan.
(m) Any student who is physically restrained shall be continually monitored by a school employee. Any student who is involuntarily placed in seclusion shall be frequently monitored by a school employee. Each student so restrained or in seclusion shall be regularly evaluated by a school employee for indications of physical distress. The school employee conducting the evaluation shall enter each evaluation in the student’s educational record. For purposes of this subsection, “monitor” means (1) direct observation, or (2) observation by way of video monitoring within physical proximity sufficient to provide aid as may be needed.
(n) If the use of such restraint or seclusion results in physical injury to the student, the local or regional board of education, and each institution or facility operating under contract with a local or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-76d that provides special education for children, including any approved private special education program, shall report the incident to the State Board of Education, which shall include such incident in the report required pursuant to subsection (k) of this section. The State Board of Education shall report any incidence of serious injury or death to the director of the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities and, if appropriate, to the Child Advocate of the Office of the Child Advocate.
(o) (1) Each local or regional school district shall provide training to school professionals, paraprofessional staff members and administrators regarding physical restraint and seclusion of students. Such training shall be phased in over a period of three years beginning with the school year commencing July 1, 2015, and shall include, but not be limited to:
(A) An overview of the relevant laws and regulations regarding the use of physical restraint and seclusion on students. Such overview shall be provided by the Department of Education to all school professionals, paraprofessional staff members and administrators on or after July 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, in a manner and form as prescribed by the Commissioner of Education;
(B) The creation of a plan by which each local or regional board of education shall provide school professionals, paraprofessional staff members and administrators with training and professional development regarding the prevention of incidents requiring physical restraint or seclusion of students. Such plan shall be implemented not later than July 1, 2017, and shall include a provision to require the training of all school professionals, paraprofessional staff members and administrators in the prevention of such incidents not later than July 1, 2019. The Department of Education may, within available appropriations, provide ongoing monitoring and support to local or regional boards of education regarding the formulation and implementation of the plan; and
(C) The creation of a plan by which each local or regional board of education shall provide school professionals, paraprofessional staff members and administrators with training and professional development regarding the proper means of physically restraining or secluding a student, including, but not limited to, (i) various types of physical restraint and seclusion; (ii) the differences between life-threatening physical restraint and other varying levels of physical restraint; (iii) the differences between permissible physical restraint and pain compliance techniques; and (iv) monitoring methods to prevent harm to a student who is physically restrained or in seclusion. Such plan shall be implemented not later than July 1, 2017, and shall include a provision to require the training of all school professionals, paraprofessional staff members and administrators in the proper means of physically restraining or secluding a student not later than July 1, 2019, and periodically thereafter as prescribed by the Commissioner of Education;
(2) Not later than July 1, 2015, and each school year thereafter, each local or regional board of education shall require each school in the district to identify a crisis intervention team consisting of school professionals, paraprofessional staff members and administrators who have been trained in the use of physical restraint and seclusion pursuant to subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of this subsection or chapter 814e. Such teams shall respond to any incident in which the use of physical restraint or seclusion may be necessary as an emergency intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to a student or to others. Each member of the crisis intervention team shall be recertified in the use of physical restraint and seclusion pursuant to subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of this subsection or chapter 814e on an annual basis.
(p) Each local or regional board of education shall develop policies and procedures that establish monitoring and internal reporting of the use of physical restraint and seclusion on students and shall make such policies and procedures available on such local or regional board of education’s Internet web site and in such local or regional board of education’s procedures manual.
(q) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the justified use of physical force by a local, state or federal law enforcement official while in the performance of such official’s duties.
(r) The State Board of Education shall adopt or revise regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, concerning the use of physical restraint and seclusion pursuant to this section. Not later than sixty days after the adoption or revision of such regulations, each local or regional board of education shall update any applicable policies and procedures regarding the physical restraint and seclusion of students and shall make such updated policies and procedures available in a manner consistent with the provisions of subsection (p) of this section.
(P.A. 15-141, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 15-141 effective July 1, 2015.
