October 17, 2017, Introduced by Reps. Garcia, Hornberger, Crawford, Kelly, Roberts, Lilly, Alexander, Noble, Griffin and Reilly and referred to the Committee on Education Reform.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
by amending section 1307h (MCL 380.1307h), as added by 2016 PA 402.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1307h. As used in sections 1307 to 1307h:
(a) "Chemical restraint" means the administration of
medication for the purpose of restraint.
(b) "De-escalation techniques" means evidence- and research-
based strategically employed verbal or nonverbal interventions used
to reduce the intensity of threatening behavior before, during, and
after a crisis situation occurs.
(c) "Documentation" means documentation developed by the
department that is uniform across the state.
(d) "Emergency physical restraint" means a last resort
emergency safety intervention involving physical restraint that is
necessitated by an ongoing emergency situation and that provides an
opportunity for the pupil to regain self-control while maintaining
the safety of the pupil and others. Emergency physical restraint
does not include physical restraint that is used for the
convenience of school personnel, as a substitute for an educational
program, as a form of discipline or punishment, as a substitute for
less restrictive alternatives, as a substitute for adequate
staffing, or as a substitute for school personnel training in
positive behavioral intervention and support. Emergency physical
restraint does not include a practice prohibited under section
1307b. Emergency physical restraint does not include physical
restraint when contraindicated based on a pupil's disability,
health care needs, or medical or psychiatric condition, as
documented in a record or records made available to the school.
(e) "Emergency seclusion" means a last resort emergency safety
intervention involving seclusion that is necessitated by an ongoing
emergency situation and that provides an opportunity for the pupil
to regain self-control while maintaining the safety of the pupil
and others. To qualify as emergency seclusion, there must be
continuous observation by school personnel of the pupil in
seclusion, and the room or area used for confinement must comply
with state and local fire and building codes; must not be locked;
must not prevent the pupil from exiting the area if school
personnel become incapacitated or leave that area; and must provide
for adequate space, lighting, ventilation, viewing, and the safety
and dignity of the pupil and others, in accordance with department
guidelines. Emergency seclusion does not include the confinement of
preschool children or of pupils who are severely self-injurious or
suicidal; seclusion that is used for the convenience of school
personnel, as a substitute for an educational program, as a form of
discipline or punishment, as a substitute for less restrictive
alternatives, as a substitute for adequate staffing, or as a
substitute for school personnel training in positive behavioral
intervention and support; or a practice prohibited under section
1307b. Emergency seclusion does not include seclusion when
contraindicated based on a pupil's disability, health care needs,
or medical or psychiatric condition, as documented in a record or
records made available to the school.
(f) "Emergency situation" means a situation in which a pupil's
behavior poses imminent risk to the safety of the individual pupil
or to the safety of others. An emergency situation requires an
immediate intervention.
(g) "Functional behavioral assessment" means an evidence- and
research-based systematic process for identifying the events that
trigger and maintain problem behavior in an educational setting. A
functional behavioral assessment shall describe specific
problematic behaviors, report the frequency of the behaviors,
assess environmental and other setting conditions where problematic
behaviors occur, and identify the factors that are maintaining the
behaviors over time.
(h) "Key identified personnel" means those individuals who
have received the mandatory training described in section
1307g(b)(i) to (xvi).
(i) "Law enforcement officer" means an individual licensed
under the Michigan commission on law enforcement standards act,
1965 PA 203, MCL 28.601 to 28.615.
(j) (i)
"Mechanical restraint"
means the use of any device,
article, garment, or material attached to or adjacent to a pupil's
body to perform restraint.
(k) (j)
"Physical restraint"
means restraint involving direct
physical contact.
(l) (k)
"Positive behavioral
intervention and support" means a
framework to assist school personnel in adopting and organizing
evidence-based behavioral interventions into an integrated
continuum of intensifying supports based on pupil need that unites
examination of the function of the problem behavior and the
teaching of alternative skill repertoires to enhance academic and
social behavior outcomes for all pupils.
(m) (l) "Positive
behavioral intervention and support plan"
means a pupil-specific support plan composed of individualized,
functional behavioral assessment-based intervention strategies,
including, as appropriate to the pupil, guidance or instruction for
the pupil to use new skills as a replacement for problem behaviors,
some rearrangement of the antecedent environment so that problems
can be prevented and desirable behaviors can be encouraged, and
procedures for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying the plan as
necessary.
(n) (m)
"Prone restraint" means
the restraint of an individual
facedown.
(o) (n)
"Regularly and continuously
work under contract" means
that term as defined in section 1230.
(p) (o)
"Restraint" means an
action that prevents or
significantly restricts a pupil's movement. Restraint does not
include the brief holding of a pupil in order to calm or comfort,
the minimum contact necessary to physically escort a pupil from 1
area to another, the minimum contact necessary to assist a pupil in
completing a task or response if the pupil does not resist or
resistance is minimal in intensity or duration, or the holding of a
pupil for a brief time in order to prevent an impulsive behavior
that threatens the pupil's immediate safety, such as running in
front of a car. Restraint does not include the administration of
medication prescribed by and administered in accordance with the
directions of a physician, an adaptive or protective device
recommended by a physician or therapist when it is used as
recommended, or safety equipment used by the general pupil
population as intended, such as a seat belt or safety harness on
school transportation. Restraint does not include necessary actions
taken to break up a fight, to stop a physical assault, as defined
in section 1310, or to take a weapon from a pupil. Restraint does
not include actions that are an integral part of a sporting event,
such as a referee pulling football players off of a pile or a
similar action.
(q) (p)
"Restraint that negatively
impacts breathing" means
any restraint that inhibits breathing, including floor restraints,
facedown position, or any position in which an individual is bent
over in such a way that it is difficult to breathe. This includes a
seated or kneeling position in which an individual being restrained
is bent over at the waist and restraint that involves sitting or
lying across an individual's back or stomach.
(r) (q)
"School personnel"
includes all individuals employed
in a public school or assigned to regularly and continuously work
under contract or under agreement in a public school, or public
school personnel providing service at a nonpublic school. School
personnel does not include a law enforcement officer assigned to
regularly and continuously work under contract or under agreement
in a public school.
(s) (r)
"Seclusion" means the
confinement of a pupil in a room
or other space from which the pupil is physically prevented from
leaving. Seclusion does not include the general confinement of
pupils if that confinement is an integral part of an emergency
lockdown drill required under section 19(5) of the fire prevention
code, 1941 PA 207, MCL 29.19, or of another emergency security
procedure that is necessary to protect the safety of pupils.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.