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SAA Supports Consensus Seclusion & Restraint Bill

By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 10, 2012

The SAA testified before the Assembly Committee on Education today in support of Assembly Bill 455 relating to the use of seclusion and restraint on pupils in the public schools. The SAA worked very hard with the DPI and other interested stakeholders to develop a consensus bill that has the support of educators as well as parent-advocates. The bill builds from the current practice of the DPI guidelines to help provide staff with clarity of operation and parents with transparency of proceedings.

The SAA will deliver similar testimony tomorrow in a hearing before the Senate Committee on Education on the companion to AB 455, Senate Bill 353. We would like to thank the authors of the bill, Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) and Representative Steve Kestell (R-Elkhart Lake) for bringing this legislation forward.  We would also like to thank Nissan Bar-Lev, CESA 7 Director of Special Education, for testifying and fielding questions from legislators on behalf of the SAA.

See DPI statement on AB 455/SB 353.

For more information about the bill, please see the LRB analysis below:

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Effective September 1, 2012, this bill prohibits an employee of a public school (including a charter school) and certain other individuals who provide services for  the benefit of a public school from using seclusion or physical restraint on a pupil at a public school except under certain conditions. Seclusion is the involuntary confinement of a pupil, apart from other pupils, in a room or area from which the pupil is physically prevented from leaving. Physical restraint is a restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a pupil to freely move his or her torso, arms, legs, or head.

An individual covered by the bill may use seclusion on a pupil only if all of the following apply: 

  1. The pupil’s behavior presents a clear, present, and immediate risk to the  physical safety of the pupil or others and it is the least restrictive intervention  available.
  2. The seclusion lasts only as long as necessary to resolve the risk to physical safety.
  3. A covered individual maintains constant supervision of the pupil.
  4. The seclusion room or area is free of objects or fixtures that may injure the pupil.
  5. The pupil has adequate access to bathroom facilities, drinking water, necessary medication, and meals.
  6. No door connecting the seclusion room or area to other rooms or areas is capable of being locked.

A covered individual may use physical restraint on a pupil only if all of the following apply: 

  1. The pupil’s behavior presents a clear, present, and immediate risk to the physical safety of the pupil or others and it is the least restrictive intervention available.
  2. The degree of force used and the duration of the physical restraint do not exceed the degree and duration that are reasonable and necessary to resolve the risk.
  3. There are no medical contraindications to the use of physical restraint.
  4. None of the following maneuvers or techniques are used:
    1. Those that do not give adequate attention and care to protecting the pupil’s head.
    2. Those that cause chest compression.
    3. Those that place pressure or weight on the pupil’s neck or throat.
  5. It does not constitute corporal punishment.
  6. Neither mechanical nor chemical restraints are used.

Whenever seclusion or physical restraint is used on a pupil, the school principal must notify the pupil’s parent and prepare a written report.

The bill generally prohibits a covered individual from using physical restraint on a pupil at school unless he or she has received training in the use of physical restraint that includes a number of specified components. A covered individual who has not received such training may use physical restraint on a pupil at school only in an emergency and only if a trained covered individual is not immediately available. The governing body of a public school in which physical restraint is used must ensure that at least one covered individual has been trained in its use.

 

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