CS/CS/HB 233 - Students with Disabilities in Public Schools

• Requires physical restraint be used only when imminent risk of serious injury or death exists and prohibits nine specific dangerous techniques including choking, bone locks, chest compression, and face/airway obstruction.

• Establishes procedures for exclusionary and nonexclusionary time with limits of 1 minute per year of student age, requires constant adult supervision, and mandates use only after other behavioral strategies have been tried.

• Requires schools to prepare incident reports within 24 hours of restraint or seclusion, including student demographics, incident description, behavioral context, and staff training status, with parent notification before end of school day.

• Mandates comprehensive restraint training covering deescalation techniques, risk assessment, team restraint implementation, medical emergency procedures, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation for school personnel.

• Requires school districts to publicly post emergency procedures and develop district policies addressing escalating behavioral strategies, data collection, reduction plans for restraint use, and ongoing staff training, effective July 1, 2017.