By: Lucio, Menéndez S.B. No. 1584
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to positive behavioral interventions and supports for
students enrolled in public school who receive special education
services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.451(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The staff development:
(1) may include training in:
(A) technology;
(B) conflict resolution;
(C) discipline strategies, including positive
behavioral intervention and supports strategies, classroom
management, district discipline policies, and the student code of
conduct adopted under Section 37.001 and Chapter 37; and
(D) protecting students from bullying, including
preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting incidents of
bullying; [and]
(2) subject to Subsection (e) and to Section 21.3541
and rules adopted under that section, must include training based
on scientifically based research, as defined by Section 9101, No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Section 7801), that:
(A) relates to instruction of students with
disabilities; and
(B) is designed for educators who work primarily
outside the area of special education; and
(3) must include training to ensure that adequately
trained school district personnel are available to work effectively
with the positive behavioral intervention and support needs of
students eligible for the district special education program.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.021 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.021. POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS AND
SUPPORTS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Behavior specialist professional" includes:
(A) a behavior analyst certified by the Behavior
Analyst Certification Board;
(B) a clinical psychologist;
(C) a licensed specialist in school psychology;
or
(D) any other special education professional,
appropriately certified as determined by the commissioner, with
experience, knowledge, and training in conducting a functional
behavioral assessment and developing a positive behavioral
intervention plan for a student whose behavior interferes with the
ability of that student or another student to learn.
(2) "Licensed specialist in school psychology" has the
meaning assigned by Section 501.002, Occupations Code.
(3) "Restraint," "seclusion," and "time-out" have the
meanings assigned by Section 37.0021.
(b) It is the policy of this state that each school district
to the maximum extent possible should provide functional behavioral
assessments to a student whose behavior interferes with the ability
of that student or of another student to learn. The result of
student assessments shall be used to develop and provide positive
behavioral interventions and supports and other strategies to
enhance academic and social behavioral outcomes for students by:
(1) emphasizing the use of data to inform decisions
regarding selecting, implementing, and monitoring the progress of
evidence-based behavioral practices;
(2) organizing resources and systems to improve the
faithful implementation and sustainability of positive behavioral
interventions and supports strategies; and
(3) providing training in the use of restraint in
accordance with Subsection (c).
(c) Training in the use of restraint provided as required
under Subsection (b)(3) must:
(1) ensure that a core team of personnel at each
campus, including a campus administrator or the administrator's
designee and any general or special education personnel likely to
use restraint, are trained in the use of restraint;
(2) ensure that any other personnel called on to use
restraint are trained in the use of restraint;
(3) ensure that any personnel called on to use
restraint in an emergency situation that have not been previously
trained receive training not later than the 30th day after the date
restraint was used;
(4) include training in:
(A) prevention techniques;
(B) de-escalation techniques; and
(C) alternatives to the use of restraint; and
(5) include instruction in current professionally
accepted practices and standards regarding behavior management and
the use of restraint.
(d) A school district shall provide positive behavioral
interventions and supports and related strategies under this
section in a manner that:
(1) ensures a student's freedom from restraint and
seclusion except as provided by Section 37.0021 and rules adopted
by the commissioner under that section;
(2) respects human dignity and personal privacy and
does not cause pain or trauma to a student; and
(3) ensures a student's right to placement in the least
restrictive educational environment.
(e) In the case of a student enrolled in a special education
program under this subchapter, a school district may use restraint
and time-out only as provided by Section 37.0021 and rules adopted
by the commissioner under that section.
(f) A school district may not use restraint as a substitute
for or as part of a behavioral intervention plan developed under
Section 29.005(g).
(g) Each behavioral emergency restraint report prepared as
provided by Section 37.0021(d)(3) shall be reviewed by the
principal of the school or the principal's designee and the
district administrator designated for that purpose as provided by
Section 37.0021(d)(4)(A) to:
(1) determine whether:
(A) restraint was repeatedly used for an
individual student; or
(B) restraint was used multiple times in the same
classroom or by the same individual; and
(2) recommend a meeting of a student's admission,
review, and dismissal committee to, as appropriate:
(A) revise strategies to enhance academic and
social behavioral outcomes for a student;
(B) conduct an updated functional behavioral
assessment; or
(C) revise a behavioral intervention plan to
address behavior that poses imminent danger of serious physical
harm to a student or another person in accordance with the
requirements of 34 C.F.R. Section 300.324 relating to the revision
of the individualized education program to address a lack of
expected progress.
(h) The student's admission, review, and dismissal
committee shall review any behavioral emergency restraint report
prepared under Section 37.0021(d)(3) concerning the student and:
(1) consider the impact of the student's behavior on
the ability of that student or another student to learn; and
(2) determine the need to create or revise a
behavioral intervention plan.
(i) If the student's admission, review, and dismissal
committee determines that the creation or revision of a behavioral
intervention plan is necessary, the committee shall create or
revise the plan and determine the need for school district
personnel who will implement the plan to participate in training by
a behavior specialist professional. The committee shall monitor
the implementation and results of the plan and determine the need
for any revision of the plan or any additional training for school
personnel.
SECTION 3. Section 37.0021, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1), (d-2), (d-3),
(d-4), and (d-5) to read as follows:
(d) Restraint may be used in the case of a student with a
disability receiving special education services under Subchapter
A, Chapter 29, only in circumstances involving imminent serious
physical harm to the student or another person. The commissioner by
rule shall adopt procedures for the use of restraint and time-out by
a school district employee or volunteer or an independent
contractor of a district in the case of a student with a disability
receiving special education services under Subchapter A, Chapter
29. A procedure adopted under this subsection must:
(1) be consistent with:
(A) professionally accepted practices and
standards of student discipline and techniques for behavior
management; and
(B) relevant health and safety standards; [and]
(2) identify any discipline management practice or
behavior management technique that requires a district employee or
volunteer or an independent contractor of a district to be trained
before using that practice or technique;
(3) require a school that has used restraint for a
student to prepare a behavioral emergency restraint report
concerning the use of restraint not later than the third school day
after the date of the incident;
(4) require the principal of a school that has used
restraint for a student to:
(A) submit a copy of the report prepared under
Subdivision (3) for review to a district administrator designated
by the district superintendent as the responsible official for that
purpose; and
(B) maintain a copy of the report in the
student's eligibility folder;
(5) require the report prepared under Subdivision (3)
to include:
(A) the name, age, gender, race or ethnicity, and
grade level of the student;
(B) the date and the beginning and ending time of
the restraint;
(C) the location and setting of the restraint;
(D) the name of district personnel or any other
person who was involved in or administered the restraint;
(E) a description of the incident and the
precipitating factors, including the activity in which the student
was engaged immediately preceding the use of restraint and the
behavior that prompted the restraint;
(F) the specific nature or type of restraint
used;
(G) a statement indicating whether the student
currently has a behavioral intervention plan and identifying any
efforts made to de-escalate the situation and any alternatives to
the use of restraint that were attempted;
(H) details of any injury sustained by the
student or another person as a result of the incident and any
medical care provided; and
(I) information documenting parent contact and
notification;
(6) require the school that has used restraint for a
student to:
(A) not later than the end of the school day on
which the school used restraint, notify the parent or person
standing in parental relation to the student regarding the use of
the restraint; and
(B) not later than the third school day after the
date on which the school used restraint, provide a copy of the
report prepared under Subdivision (3) to the parent or person
standing in parental relation to the student;
(7) require the student's admission, review, and
dismissal committee to:
(A) collect information regarding the use of
time-out in connection with the student's individualized education
program; and
(B) evaluate the information to determine:
(i) the effectiveness of the use of
time-out; and
(ii) whether the use of time-out should be
continued; and
(8) if the student is subjected to an intervention
described by Subsection (d-3), require the district to provide
notice to the parent or person standing in parental relation to the
student regarding that intervention not later than the end of the
school day on which the student was subjected to the intervention.
(d-1) In adopting procedures under Subsection (d), the
commissioner shall include a procedure relating to the
administration of restraint that immobilizes a student on the
floor. The procedure shall require a school district employee or
volunteer or an independent contractor of a school district who
administers an authorized restraint to a student who becomes prone
or supine during the restraint to immediately transition the
student to an appropriate position.
(d-2) The behavioral emergency restraint report required
under Subsection (d)(3) may not duplicate existing reporting
requirements imposed by commissioner rule or required to be
submitted through the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS).
(d-3) A school district or a school district employee or
volunteer or an independent contractor of a school district may not
authorize, order, consent to, or pay for any of the following:
(1) an intervention that is designed to or likely to
cause physical pain, including electric shock or any procedure that
involves the use of pressure points or joint locks;
(2) an intervention that involves the directed release
of a noxious, toxic, or otherwise unpleasant spray, mist, or
substance near the student's face;
(3) an intervention that denies adequate sleep, air,
food, water, shelter, bedding, physical comfort, or access to a
restroom facility;
(4) an intervention that involves subjecting the
student to verbal abuse, ridicule, or humiliation or that can be
expected to cause the student emotional trauma;
(5) a restrictive intervention that employs a device,
material, or object that simultaneously immobilizes all four
extremities, including any procedure that results in such
immobilization known as prone or supine floor restraint;
(6) an intervention that impairs the student's
breathing, including any procedure that involves:
(A) applying pressure to the student's torso or
neck; or
(B) obstructing the student's airway, including
placing an object in, on, or over the student's mouth or nose or
placing a bag, cover, or mask over the student's face;
(7) an intervention that restricts the student's
circulation;
(8) an intervention that secures the student to a
stationary object while the student is in a sitting or standing
position;
(9) an intervention that inhibits, reduces, or hinders
the student's ability to communicate;
(10) an intervention that involves the use of a
chemical restraint;
(11) an intervention that prevents observation by a
direct line of sight or otherwise precludes adequate supervision of
the student, including isolating the student in a classroom by the
use of physical barriers; or
(12) an intervention that deprives the student of the
use of one or more of the student's senses.
(d-4) For purposes of Subsection (d-3)(11), an intervention
that denies the student academic instruction by a certified
educator constitutes an intervention that precludes adequate
supervision.
(d-5) In adopting procedures under this section, the
commissioner shall provide guidance to school district employees,
volunteers, and independent contractors of school districts in
avoiding a violation of Subsection (d-3).
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016
school year.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.