85R13267 PAM-F
By: Lucio S.B. No. 1753
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. Sections 21.451(d) and (f), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(d) The staff development:
(1) may include training in:
(A) technology;
(B) conflict resolution;
(C) discipline strategies, including classroom
management, district discipline policies, and the student code of
conduct adopted under Section 37.001 and Chapter 37; [and]
(D) positive behavioral intervention and
supports or related strategies; and
(E) protecting students from bullying, including
preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting incidents of
bullying;
(2) subject to Subsection (e) and to Section 21.3541
and rules adopted under that section, must include training that is
evidence-based [based on scientifically based research], as
defined by Section 8101, Every Student Succeeds Act [9101, No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001] (20 U.S.C. Section 7801), and 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 suicide prevention training that must
be provided:
(A) on an annual basis, as part of a new employee
orientation, to all new school district and open-enrollment charter
school educators; and
(B) to existing school district and
open-enrollment charter school educators on a schedule adopted by
the agency by rule.
(f) In developing or maintaining the training required by
Subsection (d)(2), a school district must consult with persons with
expertise in evidence-based [research-based] practices for
students with disabilities. Persons who may be consulted under
this subsection include colleges, universities, private and
nonprofit organizations, regional education service centers,
qualified district personnel, and behavior specialist
professionals [any other persons identified as qualified by the
district]. This subsection applies to all training required by
Subsection (d)(2), regardless of whether the training is provided
at the campus or district level. In this subsection, "behavior
specialist professional" means a person who:
(1) is appropriately certified as determined by the
commissioner in, is trained in, or has knowledge of:
(A) principles and practices of behavioral
support plan development, implementation, and evaluation;
(B) medications used to assist with behavior
management, including the side effects and adverse effects of those
medications;
(C) systems used to track treatment
effectiveness;
(D) delivery of behavioral services to persons
with disabilities; and
(E) characteristics of developmental
disabilities; and
(2) has the ability to:
(A) conduct a comprehensive functional
behavioral assessment;
(B) develop a behavior support plan that includes
positive behavioral intervention and supports or related
strategies;
(C) evaluate behavioral and special education
program data; and
(D) plan, assign, and supervise the work of
others.
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, "restraint" and "seclusion" 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 or related 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
intervention and supports or related strategies; and
(3) providing training to school district personnel
who will be involved in implementing positive behavioral
intervention and supports or related strategies.
(c) A school district shall provide positive behavioral
interventions and supports or 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;
(3) ensures a student's right to placement in the least
restrictive educational environment; and
(4) focuses on the individual in order to determine
the most appropriate strategy for each student.
(d) 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 to include positive behavioral interventions and
supports or related evidence-based behavioral intervention
strategies. The district shall offer training on positive
behavioral intervention and supports or related strategies to all
school district personnel involved in the implementation of the
behavioral intervention plan who have not received training on
positive behavioral intervention and supports or related
strategies within the preceding two years. The training offered
under this subsection must be:
(1) conducted by one or more persons who may be
consulted under Section 21.451(f); and
(2) to the maximum extent possible, relevant to the
behavioral intervention plan.
(e) The student's admission, review, and dismissal
committee shall monitor the implementation and results of the
behavioral intervention plan and determine the need for any
revision of the plan or any additional training for school district
personnel.
SECTION 3. Section 37.0021, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (d-1), (d-2), and (d-3) to read as follows:
(d-1) 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-2) For purposes of Subsection (d-1)(11), an intervention
that denies the student academic instruction by a certified
educator constitutes an intervention that precludes adequate
supervision.
(d-3) 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-1).
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
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, 2017.