Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 804 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1793 3
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By: Representative Duke 5
By: Senator Dees 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF 9
POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL 10
DISTRICTS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11
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Subtitle 14
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF 15
POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS IN PUBLIC 16
SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 17
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2401 is amended to read as follows: 21
6-18-2401. Legislative findings. 22
The General Assembly finds that: 23
(1) It is the responsibility of each school district in Arkansas 24
to ensure the safety of all students and school personnel; 25
(2) It is the responsibility of each school district in Arkansas 26
to ensure that every student in Arkansas is safe and protected from being 27
unnecessarily or inappropriately restrained; 28
(3) Safe, effective, evidence -based strategies should be the 29
basis for protocols in public schools and educational settings to support 30
every student who displays challenging behavior in a public school or 31
educational setting; 32
(4) Providing school personnel with training that is focused on 33
evidence-based positive behavioral support behavioral intervention , de-34
escalation techniques, and physical restraint prevention can reduce the 35
incidence of injury, trauma, and death; 36 HB1793
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(5) The effective implementation of school -wide positive 1
behavioral support is linked to greater academic achievement, significantly 2
fewer disciplinary problems, increased instruction time, and the perception 3
of a safer teaching environment by school personnel; 4
(6) Positive behavioral support involves school -wide approaches 5
that result in: 6
(A) Positive classroom and school climates; 7
(B) Prosocial student and school personnel interactions; 8
(C) Teaching a student academic, social, emotional, 9
behavioral engagement, and achievement skills; and 10
(D) Reinforcing the academic, social, emotional, 11
behavioral engagement, and achievement skills of a student; 12
(7) The use of effective positive behavioral support in public 13
schools and educational settings can prevent an emergency situation that 14
requires the use of physical restraint on a student; and 15
(8)(5) Every effort should be made to: 16
(A) Prevent the need for secluding a student or using a 17
physical restraint on a student; 18
(B) Ensure that behavioral intervention is consistent with 19
the right of a student to be free from abuse and treated with dignity; 20
(C) Avoid the use of physical restraint on a student to 21
the greatest extent possible without endangering the safety of other students 22
and school personnel; 23
(D) Avoid the use of a physical restraint on a student 24
except in a situation where the behavior of the student poses an imminent 25
danger of serious physical harm to the student or others; 26
(E) Discontinue the use of a physical restraint on a 27
student as soon as the imminent danger of serious physical harm to the 28
student or others dissipates; and 29
(F) Refrain from using chemical restraint or mechanical 30
restraint in a public school or educational setting ; and 31
(6) It is the responsibility of each school district to 32
determine how to effectively discipline enrolled students based on evidence -33
based behavioral intervention strategies and the needs of its student 34
population and members of school personnel . 35
36 HB1793
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2402(c), concerning requirements of 1
school districts as they relate to student restraints in public schools and 2
educational settings, is amended to read as follows: 3
(c) Each school district shall: 4
(1) Adopt policies and procedures that are consistent with the 5
provisions of this subchapter and appropriate based on the needs of the 6
school district's student population and members of school personnel ; 7
(2) Review the Department of Education Special Education and 8
Related Services Guidelines, § 20.00 Time -Out Seclusion Room; and 9
(3) Provide its school personnel with the training, tools, and 10
support needed to ensure the safety of all students and school personnel. 11
12
SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2403(22), concerning the definition of 13
"positive behavioral support" as it relates to the use of physical restraints 14
on students in public schools and educational settings, is repealed. 15
(22) “Positive behavioral support” means the application of 16
behavior analysis that: 17
(A) Is used to achieve socially important behavior change; 18
(B) Occurs at the: 19
(i) Prevention level for all students in a school; 20
(ii) Strategic intervention level for a student who 21
is not responding, from a social -emotional and behavioral perspective, to the 22
prevention level; and 23
(iii) Intensive service or crisis-management level 24
for a student who needs multifaceted or comprehensive behavioral or mental 25
health services; and 26
(C) Involves a planned and collaborative school -wide 27
approach that is implemented with a goal: 28
(i) Of establishing a positive and supportive school 29
environment that: 30
(a) Teaches and reinforces prosocial behavior 31
in a student; 32
(b) Holds a student positively accountable for 33
meeting an established behavioral expectation; and 34
(c) Maintains a level of consistency 35
throughout the implementation process; and 36 HB1793
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(ii) That is accomplished by using positive 1
behavioral programs, strategies, or approaches; 2
3
SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2403(24), concerning the definition of 4
"punishment" as it relates to the use of physical restraints on students in 5
public schools and educational settings, is amended to read as follows: 6
(24) “Punishment” means an action that: 7
(A) May follow an inappropriate behavior of a student; and 8
(B) Is taken with the goal of decreasing, stopping, or 9
eliminating the future reoccurrence of the inappropriate behavior of the 10
student; and 11
(C) Is not taken with the goal of replacing the 12
inappropriate behavior of the student with future appropriate behavior by the 13
student; 14
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SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2404 is amended to read as follows: 16
6-18-2404. Prevention Multi-tiered system of supports . 17
(a) School districts shall implement positive behavioral supports that 18
shall be used at the: 19
(1) Prevention level for each student in a school; 20
(2) Strategic intervention level for a student who is not 21
responding, from a social, emotional, or behavioral perspective, to the 22
prevention level; and 23
(3) Intensive service or crisis -management level for a student 24
who needs multifaceted or comprehensive behavioral or mental health services. 25
(b) Positive behavioral support implemented by a school district shall 26
include: 27
(1) The teaching and reinforcing of interpersonal, social, 28
problem solving, conflict resolution, and coping skills to a student; 29
(2) Holding a student positively accountable for meeting an 30
established behavioral expectation; 31
(3) Maintaining a high level of consistency through the 32
implementation process; and 33
(4) The following interrelated activities: 34
(A) Providing a school -wide approach to the discipline and 35
safety of each student rather than an approach to only the behavior problem 36 HB1793
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of a student; 1
(B) Focusing on preventing the development and occurrence 2
of problem behavior; 3
(C) Regularly reviewing behavior data to adapt the 4
procedures of a school to meet the needs of every student; and 5
(D) Providing a multitiered approach to academic and 6
behavioral services and support to meet the academic and behavioral 7
achievement needs of each student. 8
(c) A positive behavioral support system and conflict resolution or 9
de-escalation approach implemented by a school district shall be based on the 10
following principles: 11
(1) A school should promote the right of a student to be treated 12
with dignity; 13
(2) A student should receive necessary academic, social, 14
emotional, and behavioral support that is provided in a safe and least -15
restrictive environment possible; 16
(3) Positive and appropriate academic, social, emotional, or 17
behavioral intervention, as well as mental health support, should be provided 18
routinely to each student who needs the intervention or support; 19
(4) School personnel should be trained to provide routinely 20
positive and appropriate academic, social, emotional, or behavioral 21
intervention, as well as mental health support, to each student who needs the 22
intervention or support; 23
(5) Behavioral intervention should emphasize prevention and 24
should be a part of a school's system of positive behavioral support; 25
(6) A school should have the school personnel necessary to 26
effectively provide positive support to a student; 27
(7) A school should appropriately train its school personnel to 28
be able to address the needs of each student; 29
(8) All relevant school personnel, as determined by each public 30
school district, should receive training in: 31
(A) The use of positive behavioral support for student 32
behavior and in preventive techniques for teaching and motivating prosocial 33
student behavior; and 34
(B) Conflict de-escalation and resolution techniques, and 35
these techniques should be employed by all school personnel to prevent, 36 HB1793
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defuse, evaluate, and debrief a crisis and conflict situation; and 1
(9) Each student who exhibits an ongoing behavior that 2
interferes with his or her learning or the learning of others, and who is 3
nonresponsive to effectively implemented classroom or administrative 4
intervention, should receive additional intensive behavioral intervention 5
that is based on a functional behavior assessment and data -based problem 6
solving. 7
(d)(1) A (a) Each public school shall establish a problem-solving and 8
intervention team within its multi-tiered system of supports behavioral 9
interventions for each student who exhibits social, emotional, or behavioral 10
difficulty that may escalate, if not addressed, to potentially dangerous 11
behavior. 12
(2)(b) A problem-solving and intervention team multi-tiered 13
system of supports shall include a team member members who is an are academic 14
and behavioral assessment and intervention professional professionals. 15
(3)(c) A problem-solving and intervention team Professionals 16
included in a multi-tiered system of supports shall: 17
(A)(1) Work with the teachers of a student to complete: 18
(i)(A) A functional behavior assessment of the 19
student; and 20
(ii)(B) An assessment of any problematic situations 21
involving the student; and 22
(B)(2) Consider the need for a behavior intervention plan 23
with the goal of preventing or resolving the social, emotional, or behavioral 24
difficulty of the student and developing a response that will de -escalate and 25
stabilize a potential emergency situation that approaches the danger level. 26
(4)(d) If a student is suspected of having a disability that 27
relates to behavioral concerns, the school shall follow school district, 28
state, and federal special education procedures. 29
30
SECTION 6. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2407(3)(C)(iii), concerning the 31
purpose of a debriefing meeting that occurs after an incident involving the 32
physical restraint of a student, is amended to read as follows: 33
(iii) Evaluate the school district's positive 34
behavioral support system behavioral intervention procedures and prevention 35
techniques in order to minimize future use of physical restraint. 36 HB1793
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1
SECTION 7. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2407(3)(D)(iii), concerning the 2
requirements of members of school personnel during a debriefing meeting that 3
is conducted after an incident involving the physical restraint of a student, 4
is amended to read as follows: 5
(iii) Discuss whether positive behavioral support 6
was behavioral intervention procedures adopted by the school district were 7
appropriately implemented; 8
9
SECTION 8. Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2408(a)(1), concerning optional 10
training conducted by a school district for members of school personnel, is 11
amended to read as follows: 12
(1) Training on the use of an array of positive behavior 13
interventions, if the school district utilizes positive behavior 14
interventions, behavioral intervention procedures, strategies, and supports 15
to increase appropriate student behavior and decrease inappropriate or 16
dangerous student behavior; 17
18
SECTION 9. The introductory language to Arkansas Code § 6 -18-2409(2), 19
concerning training provided to school personnel regarding positive 20
behavioral support, is amended to read as follows: 21
(2) Provide evidence -based skills training relating to positive 22
support, conflict prevention, de -escalation, and crisis response techniques, 23
including without limitation: 24
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APPROVED: 4/17/25 27
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