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Arkansas House Bill HB1793

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1793 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 804 of the Regular Session
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43 State of Arkansas 1
54 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
65 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1793 3
76 4
87 By: Representative Duke 5
98 By: Senator Dees 6
109 7
1110 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1211 AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF 9
1312 POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL 10
1413 DISTRICTS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11
1514 12
1615 13
1716 Subtitle 14
1817 TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF 15
1918 POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS IN PUBLIC 16
2019 SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 17
2120 18
2221 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
2322 20
2423 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2401 is amended to read as follows: 21
2524 6-18-2401. Legislative findings. 22
2625 The General Assembly finds that: 23
2726 (1) It is the responsibility of each school district in Arkansas 24
2827 to ensure the safety of all students and school personnel; 25
2928 (2) It is the responsibility of each school district in Arkansas 26
3029 to ensure that every student in Arkansas is safe and protected from being 27
3130 unnecessarily or inappropriately restrained; 28
3231 (3) Safe, effective, evidence -based strategies should be the 29
3332 basis for protocols in public schools and educational settings to support 30
3433 every student who displays challenging behavior in a public school or 31
3534 educational setting; 32
3635 (4) Providing school personnel with training that is focused on 33
3736 evidence-based positive behavioral support behavioral intervention , de-34
3837 escalation techniques, and physical restraint prevention can reduce the 35
3938 incidence of injury, trauma, and death; 36 HB1793
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4241 (5) The effective implementation of school -wide positive 1
4342 behavioral support is linked to greater academic achievement, significantly 2
4443 fewer disciplinary problems, increased instruction time, and the perception 3
4544 of a safer teaching environment by school personnel; 4
4645 (6) Positive behavioral support involves school -wide approaches 5
4746 that result in: 6
4847 (A) Positive classroom and school climates; 7
4948 (B) Prosocial student and school personnel interactions; 8
5049 (C) Teaching a student academic, social, emotional, 9
5150 behavioral engagement, and achievement skills; and 10
5251 (D) Reinforcing the academic, social, emotional, 11
5352 behavioral engagement, and achievement skills of a student; 12
5453 (7) The use of effective positive behavioral support in public 13
5554 schools and educational settings can prevent an emergency situation that 14
5655 requires the use of physical restraint on a student; and 15
5756 (8)(5) Every effort should be made to: 16
5857 (A) Prevent the need for secluding a student or using a 17
5958 physical restraint on a student; 18
6059 (B) Ensure that behavioral intervention is consistent with 19
6160 the right of a student to be free from abuse and treated with dignity; 20
6261 (C) Avoid the use of physical restraint on a student to 21
6362 the greatest extent possible without endangering the safety of other students 22
6463 and school personnel; 23
6564 (D) Avoid the use of a physical restraint on a student 24
6665 except in a situation where the behavior of the student poses an imminent 25
6766 danger of serious physical harm to the student or others; 26
6867 (E) Discontinue the use of a physical restraint on a 27
6968 student as soon as the imminent danger of serious physical harm to the 28
7069 student or others dissipates; and 29
7170 (F) Refrain from using chemical restraint or mechanical 30
7271 restraint in a public school or educational setting ; and 31
7372 (6) It is the responsibility of each school district to 32
7473 determine how to effectively discipline enrolled students based on evidence -33
7574 based behavioral intervention strategies and the needs of its student 34
7675 population and members of school personnel . 35
7776 36 HB1793
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8079 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2402(c), concerning requirements of 1
8180 school districts as they relate to student restraints in public schools and 2
8281 educational settings, is amended to read as follows: 3
8382 (c) Each school district shall: 4
8483 (1) Adopt policies and procedures that are consistent with the 5
8584 provisions of this subchapter and appropriate based on the needs of the 6
8685 school district's student population and members of school personnel ; 7
8786 (2) Review the Department of Education Special Education and 8
8887 Related Services Guidelines, § 20.00 Time -Out Seclusion Room; and 9
8988 (3) Provide its school personnel with the training, tools, and 10
9089 support needed to ensure the safety of all students and school personnel. 11
9190 12
9291 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2403(22), concerning the definition of 13
9392 "positive behavioral support" as it relates to the use of physical restraints 14
9493 on students in public schools and educational settings, is repealed. 15
9594 (22) “Positive behavioral support” means the application of 16
9695 behavior analysis that: 17
9796 (A) Is used to achieve socially important behavior change; 18
9897 (B) Occurs at the: 19
9998 (i) Prevention level for all students in a school; 20
10099 (ii) Strategic intervention level for a student who 21
101100 is not responding, from a social -emotional and behavioral perspective, to the 22
102101 prevention level; and 23
103102 (iii) Intensive service or crisis-management level 24
104103 for a student who needs multifaceted or comprehensive behavioral or mental 25
105104 health services; and 26
106105 (C) Involves a planned and collaborative school -wide 27
107106 approach that is implemented with a goal: 28
108107 (i) Of establishing a positive and supportive school 29
109108 environment that: 30
110109 (a) Teaches and reinforces prosocial behavior 31
111110 in a student; 32
112111 (b) Holds a student positively accountable for 33
113112 meeting an established behavioral expectation; and 34
114113 (c) Maintains a level of consistency 35
115114 throughout the implementation process; and 36 HB1793
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118117 (ii) That is accomplished by using positive 1
119118 behavioral programs, strategies, or approaches; 2
120119 3
121120 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2403(24), concerning the definition of 4
122121 "punishment" as it relates to the use of physical restraints on students in 5
123122 public schools and educational settings, is amended to read as follows: 6
124123 (24) “Punishment” means an action that: 7
125124 (A) May follow an inappropriate behavior of a student; and 8
126125 (B) Is taken with the goal of decreasing, stopping, or 9
127126 eliminating the future reoccurrence of the inappropriate behavior of the 10
128127 student; and 11
129128 (C) Is not taken with the goal of replacing the 12
130129 inappropriate behavior of the student with future appropriate behavior by the 13
131130 student; 14
132131 15
133132 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2404 is amended to read as follows: 16
134133 6-18-2404. Prevention Multi-tiered system of supports . 17
135134 (a) School districts shall implement positive behavioral supports that 18
136135 shall be used at the: 19
137136 (1) Prevention level for each student in a school; 20
138137 (2) Strategic intervention level for a student who is not 21
139138 responding, from a social, emotional, or behavioral perspective, to the 22
140139 prevention level; and 23
141140 (3) Intensive service or crisis -management level for a student 24
142141 who needs multifaceted or comprehensive behavioral or mental health services. 25
143142 (b) Positive behavioral support implemented by a school district shall 26
144143 include: 27
145144 (1) The teaching and reinforcing of interpersonal, social, 28
146145 problem solving, conflict resolution, and coping skills to a student; 29
147146 (2) Holding a student positively accountable for meeting an 30
148147 established behavioral expectation; 31
149148 (3) Maintaining a high level of consistency through the 32
150149 implementation process; and 33
151150 (4) The following interrelated activities: 34
152151 (A) Providing a school -wide approach to the discipline and 35
153152 safety of each student rather than an approach to only the behavior problem 36 HB1793
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156155 of a student; 1
157156 (B) Focusing on preventing the development and occurrence 2
158157 of problem behavior; 3
159158 (C) Regularly reviewing behavior data to adapt the 4
160159 procedures of a school to meet the needs of every student; and 5
161160 (D) Providing a multitiered approach to academic and 6
162161 behavioral services and support to meet the academic and behavioral 7
163162 achievement needs of each student. 8
164163 (c) A positive behavioral support system and conflict resolution or 9
165164 de-escalation approach implemented by a school district shall be based on the 10
166165 following principles: 11
167166 (1) A school should promote the right of a student to be treated 12
168167 with dignity; 13
169168 (2) A student should receive necessary academic, social, 14
170169 emotional, and behavioral support that is provided in a safe and least -15
171170 restrictive environment possible; 16
172171 (3) Positive and appropriate academic, social, emotional, or 17
173172 behavioral intervention, as well as mental health support, should be provided 18
174173 routinely to each student who needs the intervention or support; 19
175174 (4) School personnel should be trained to provide routinely 20
176175 positive and appropriate academic, social, emotional, or behavioral 21
177176 intervention, as well as mental health support, to each student who needs the 22
178177 intervention or support; 23
179178 (5) Behavioral intervention should emphasize prevention and 24
180179 should be a part of a school's system of positive behavioral support; 25
181180 (6) A school should have the school personnel necessary to 26
182181 effectively provide positive support to a student; 27
183182 (7) A school should appropriately train its school personnel to 28
184183 be able to address the needs of each student; 29
185184 (8) All relevant school personnel, as determined by each public 30
186185 school district, should receive training in: 31
187186 (A) The use of positive behavioral support for student 32
188187 behavior and in preventive techniques for teaching and motivating prosocial 33
189188 student behavior; and 34
190189 (B) Conflict de-escalation and resolution techniques, and 35
191190 these techniques should be employed by all school personnel to prevent, 36 HB1793
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194193 defuse, evaluate, and debrief a crisis and conflict situation; and 1
195194 (9) Each student who exhibits an ongoing behavior that 2
196195 interferes with his or her learning or the learning of others, and who is 3
197196 nonresponsive to effectively implemented classroom or administrative 4
198197 intervention, should receive additional intensive behavioral intervention 5
199198 that is based on a functional behavior assessment and data -based problem 6
200199 solving. 7
201200 (d)(1) A (a) Each public school shall establish a problem-solving and 8
202201 intervention team within its multi-tiered system of supports behavioral 9
203202 interventions for each student who exhibits social, emotional, or behavioral 10
204203 difficulty that may escalate, if not addressed, to potentially dangerous 11
205204 behavior. 12
206205 (2)(b) A problem-solving and intervention team multi-tiered 13
207206 system of supports shall include a team member members who is an are academic 14
208207 and behavioral assessment and intervention professional professionals. 15
209208 (3)(c) A problem-solving and intervention team Professionals 16
210209 included in a multi-tiered system of supports shall: 17
211210 (A)(1) Work with the teachers of a student to complete: 18
212211 (i)(A) A functional behavior assessment of the 19
213212 student; and 20
214213 (ii)(B) An assessment of any problematic situations 21
215214 involving the student; and 22
216215 (B)(2) Consider the need for a behavior intervention plan 23
217216 with the goal of preventing or resolving the social, emotional, or behavioral 24
218217 difficulty of the student and developing a response that will de -escalate and 25
219218 stabilize a potential emergency situation that approaches the danger level. 26
220219 (4)(d) If a student is suspected of having a disability that 27
221220 relates to behavioral concerns, the school shall follow school district, 28
222221 state, and federal special education procedures. 29
223222 30
224223 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2407(3)(C)(iii), concerning the 31
225224 purpose of a debriefing meeting that occurs after an incident involving the 32
226225 physical restraint of a student, is amended to read as follows: 33
227226 (iii) Evaluate the school district's positive 34
228227 behavioral support system behavioral intervention procedures and prevention 35
229228 techniques in order to minimize future use of physical restraint. 36 HB1793
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232231 1
233232 SECTION 7. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2407(3)(D)(iii), concerning the 2
234233 requirements of members of school personnel during a debriefing meeting that 3
235234 is conducted after an incident involving the physical restraint of a student, 4
236235 is amended to read as follows: 5
237236 (iii) Discuss whether positive behavioral support 6
238237 was behavioral intervention procedures adopted by the school district were 7
239238 appropriately implemented; 8
240239 9
241240 SECTION 8. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2408(a)(1), concerning optional 10
242241 training conducted by a school district for members of school personnel, is 11
243242 amended to read as follows: 12
244243 (1) Training on the use of an array of positive behavior 13
245244 interventions, if the school district utilizes positive behavior 14
246245 interventions, behavioral intervention procedures, strategies, and supports 15
247246 to increase appropriate student behavior and decrease inappropriate or 16
248247 dangerous student behavior; 17
249248 18
250249 SECTION 9. The introductory language to Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2409(2), 19
251250 concerning training provided to school personnel regarding positive 20
252251 behavioral support, is amended to read as follows: 21
253252 (2) Provide evidence -based skills training relating to positive 22
254253 support, conflict prevention, de -escalation, and crisis response techniques, 23
255254 including without limitation: 24
256255 25
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258-APPROVED: 4/17/25 27
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