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June 12, 2023
Legislative Update Pertaining to Restrictive Procedures, Prone Restraint and Reasonable Force
The following amendments are effective July 1, 2023.
Minnesota Statutes, section 125A.0942 (Standards for Restrictive Procedures – applicable to students with disabilities) is amended as follows:
- Clarifies the standards for the use of restrictive procedures apply to children with disabilities from birth until the child with a disability becomes 22 years old by adding “individualized family service plan” next to individualized education program throughout the statutory provision.
- Adds responsibilities to the oversight committee to quarterly review “the use of restrictive procedures based on patterns or problems indicated by . . . any disproportionate use of restrictive procedures based on race, gender, or disability status; the role of the school resource officer or police in emergencies and the use of restrictive procedures; and documentation to determine if the standards for using restrictive procedures as described in sections 125A.0941 and 125A.0942 are met.”
- Adds “a brief description of the post-use debriefing that occurred as a result of the use of the physical hold or seclusion” to the information required to be documented each time physical holding or seclusion is used.
- Prohibits “the use of seclusion on children from birth through grade 3 by September 1, 2024.”
- Clarifies the restrictive procedures reporting requirement for districts pertaining to children with disabilities by stating that “[a]ny reasonable force used under sections 121A.582; 609.06, subdivision 1; and 609.379 which intends to hold a child immobile or limit a child's movement where body contact is the only source of physical restraint or confines a child alone in a room from which egress is barred shall be reported to the Department of Education as a restrictive procedure, including physical holding or seclusion used by an unauthorized or untrained staff person.”
- Requires, “[b]y February 1, 2024, the commissioner, in cooperation with stakeholders, [to] make recommendations to the legislature for urgently ending seclusion in Minnesota schools . . . [which] must include specific dates for ending seclusion by grade or facility . . . [and] must identify existing resources and the new resources necessary for staff capacity, staff training, children's supports, child mental health services, and schoolwide collaborative efforts.”
Minnesota Statutes, section 121A.58 (Corporal Punishment – applicable to students with and without disabilities) is amended as follows:
- Adds to the definitions “‘prone restraint’ means placing a child in a face-down position.”
- Prohibits the use of prone restraint and certain physical holds, stating that “[a]n employee or agent of a district, including a school resource officer, security personnel, or police officer contracted with a district, shall not use prone restraint . . . [and] shall not inflict any form of physical holding that restricts or impairs a pupil's ability to breathe; restricts or impairs a pupil's ability to communicate distress; places pressure or weight on a pupil's head, throat, neck, chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back, or abdomen; or results in straddling a pupil's torso.”
- Provides that “[c]onduct that violates subdivision 2a is not per se corporal punishment under this statute. Nothing in this section or section 125A.0941 precludes the use of reasonable force under section 121A.582.”
Minnesota Statutes, section 121A.582 (Student Discipline; Reasonable Force – applicable to students with and without disabilities) is amended as follows:
- Amends the standard for when reasonable force may be used to “when it is necessary under the circumstances to correct or restrain a student or to prevent imminent bodily harm or death to the student or to another”
- Clarifies the restrictive procedures reporting requirement for districts pertaining to students with disabilities by stating that “Districts must report data on their use of any reasonable force used on a student with a disability to correct or restrain the student to prevent imminent bodily harm or death to the student or another that is consistent with the definition of physical holding undersection 125A.0941, paragraph (c), as outlined in section 125A.0942, subdivision 3, paragraph (b).”
- Adds a new reporting requirement for districts pertaining to general education students that “[b]eginning with the 2024-2025 school year, districts must report annually by July 15, in a form and manner determined by the commissioner, data from the prior school year about any reasonable force used on a general education student to correct or restrain the student to prevent imminent bodily harm or death to the student or another that is consistent with the definition of physical holding under section 125A.0941, paragraph (c).”
Please direct any questions for the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to consider while developing guidance for the field on this topic to mde.assistance-compliance@state.mn.us.
Minnesota Recognizes Schools and Districts for Sustaining their Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Implementation with Fidelity Through the Pandemic
This year, MDE recognizes 87 schools representing 31 districts and six school districts coordinating school implementation for their successful work during the 2022-23 school year engaging in sustained PBIS implementation. PBIS is an evidence-based framework for preventing problem behavior, providing instruction and support for positive and prosocial behaviors, and supporting social, emotional and behavioral needs for all students. Minnesota Statutes, section 122A.627 (https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=122A.627) defines the key components that make PBIS effective for all students, including students with the most intensive needs. The schools and districts receiving recognition this year are leaders in improving school climate, involving the community and increasing student achievement. View more information at References for the Evidence Base of PBIS (https://pbis.org/resource/references-for-the-evidence-base-of-pbis).
Join us at the Virtual 2023 PBIS Summer Institute June 14-15, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. There is no charge for the conference, however registration is required. Register for the PBIS Summer Institute on the Alchemer website.
View day two of the conference (June 15, 11:35 a.m.-12:35 p.m., exemplar ceremony only) on Zoom. Passcode: PBIS.
The institute focuses on Minnesota examples of PBIS Implementation. Breakout sessions were selected to assist existing PBIS teams with implementation fidelity and sustainability.
Contact MDE.PBIS@state.mn.us if there are program or registration questions.
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