Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 9, December 18, 2023
A. Each school shall have written policies
and procedures made available annually to students, parents, and placing
agencies that include, but are not limited to:
1. Methods for preventing student violence,
self-injurious behavior, and suicide, including de-escalation of potentially
dangerous behavior occurring among groups of students or with an individual
student.
2. A statement that
corporal punishment and abusive techniques and interventions are not
authorized, permitted, or condoned.
3. A statement that behavior management
techniques are applied in order of their degree of intrusiveness or
restrictiveness and the conditions under which they may be used by trained
personnel.
B. Physical
restraint or seclusion is allowed only in an emergency situation and only when
it is necessary to protect the student or another person from imminent danger
of serious physical harm after less intrusive interventions have been attempted
and failed to manage that particular behavior and there is a substantial
explanation for why other interventions were deemed inadequate or inappropriate
.
1. The use of restraint or seclusion,
particularly when there is repeated use for an individual child, multiple uses
within the same classroom, or multiple uses by the same individual, shall
trigger a review and, if appropriate, a revision of behavioral strategies
currently in place to address dangerous behavior. If positive behavioral
strategies are not in place, staff shall develop them.
2. In cases where a student has a history of
dangerous behavior for which restraint or seclusion was considered or used, a
school shall have a plan developed in consultation with the parent for (i)
teaching and supporting more appropriate behavior and (ii) determining positive
methods to prevent behavioral escalations that have previously resulted in the
use of restraint or seclusion.
3.
Physical restraint or seclusion shall not be used for disciplinary reasons, as
a punishment , or retaliation, or for staff's convenience.
4. Each student is entitled to be completely
free from any unnecessary use of physical restraint or seclusion.
5. Staff shall continuously monitor the use
of physical restraint and seclusion and shall not rely on an electronic
surveillance device.
6. Physical
restraint may only be implemented, monitored, or discontinued by staff who have
received proper training .
7. The
door to any room in which a student is secluded may be held shut only when a
staff member is personally securing it. The door must immediately disengage
when the staff member steps away from it. The room must meet specification
including size and viewing panels that ensure the student's safety at all times
including during a fire or other emergency.
8. Schools shall permit parents to inspect
any area used during an emergency for the purpose of seclusion.
9. The parent shall be informed on the day of
each incident of physical restraint or seclusion. The student's home school
division and placing agency shall be informed as soon as possible but within 24
hours of the occurrence.
10. Each
application of physical restraint or seclusion shall be fully documented in the
student's record including date, time, staff involved, justification for the
physical restraint or seclusion, behavior antecedents, less restrictive
interventions that were unsuccessfully attempted prior to using physical
restraint or seclusion, duration, description of method or methods of physical
restraint techniques used, signature of the person completing the report and
date, and reviewer's signature and date. The written report shall be made
available to the parent within two business days of the occurrence and
opportunity given for the parent and student, as appropriate, to discuss the
matter with school staff.
11.
Schools shall collect and annually report to the department the number of times
restraint and seclusion were used during the school year. The data shall be
disaggregated by students and number of occurrences.
Derived
From
Virginia
Register Volume 31, Issue 24, eff. 8/26/2015.
Statutory Authority: §§ 22.1-16 and 22.1-321 of
the Code of Virginia.